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The NSW Government has today announced new regulatory and financial support for the embattled music festival industry which is under the pressure of increasing costs.

With a string of legacy festivals having closed across the country, the NSW Government’s new regulations and a fresh focus on funding for music festivals in the state aims to revive the industry, which has seen the likes of Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass and Return to Rio cancelled this year alone.

This comes after the NSW Government committed to review the Music Festivals Act. The review found the regulatory framework would benefit from a closer focus on harm reduction, industry sustainability, and ensuring costs for festivals in NSW are at a level comparable to other states, while still prioritising health and safety at festival events.

As part of these reforms, music festivals across NSW will receive two years of emergency funding assistance, with an initial $3 million allocated, and benefit from sector-wide reforms as they weather headwinds that have led to numerous cancelled events.

The government will also introduce amendments to the Music Festivals Act to Parliament, with reforms to improve the regulatory framework for music festivals in time for the summer festival season.

The changes to the Act will make it more supportive of festivals – providing a framework that prioritises the health and safety of festival-goers, as well as the economic sustainability of the state’s music festivals.

Key amendments to the Music Festivals Act will include:

• Explicit objectives in the Act which focus on Government supporting the festival sector
• Removing the ‘subject’ festival designation from the Act
• All music festivals will now be required to have a Health and Medical Plan, expanding the industry’ existing best practice across the sector. Festivals with previous incidents will be required to agree their plan with Health.
• Liquor & Gaming NSW will become the key decision maker, on advice from NSW Health and NSW Police. The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority will retain a role if a festival organiser appeals a requirement to have its Health and Medical plan agreed by health.
• Decisions on costs and conditions will now be able to be appealed internally within agencies. A festival will have a right to appeal to a cross-government panel on costs if a festival's economic viability is under threat.
• NSW Police will retain an ability to recommend safety and law enforcement measures for a festival where they deem it is necessary.

A two-year Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund has been established to improve short-term viability for festival operators and retain contemporary music festivals vital to the NSW music landscape.

Sound NSW has established the fund to address the financial pressures the sector is facing due to economic burdens such as rising costs, inflation, freight and the currency exchange. The fund will offer support to existing large-scale contemporary music festivals with a track record of delivering significant outcomes for contemporary music up to $500,000 per festival.

Funding is available for two years for festivals with a 15,000 capacity or greater while the sector recalibrates to current financial challenges.

The program will open in Sept 2024 and close on 30th June 2026, accepting applications at any time on a needs-basis.

NSW Minister for Music and the Night-Time Economy John Graham noted “NSW has had a strong music festival sector, but it has been under intense pressure. We have seen the chickens come home to roost after years of pressure, with major festivals failing.

“Festivals are an important place for music fans to experience the music they love together and form connections with artists and their community.

“Festivals are facing challenges across the globe and around Australia with the increased price of doing business, the costs of living crisis and changing audience behaviours. We know these challenges have been felt acutely in NSW thanks to overlapping and confusing regulations.

“We made a commitment to review the Music Festivals Act, and now that review is complete, we are introducing these reforms to strengthen our support for these vital live music events.

“Through these proposed amendments, our music festival funding package, and our ongoing Vibrancy Reforms, we are seeking to make NSW a more vibrant place for live music to thrive.”

NSW Minister for Health, Ryan Park added “We want people to be able to enjoy festivals safely. These reforms will ensure that health and safety become even more of a central focus in event planning.

“NSW Health continues to work closely with musical festivals to institute a range of harm reduction measures including deploying NSW Ambulance personnel; peer based harm reduction service providers; private medical providers onsite; as well as communications and awareness campaigns.”

Image top. Groovin the Moo has cancelled its shows for 2024 just two months before it was set to kick off. (Instagram/Groovin the Moo); image above: In August,  Byron Bay festival Bluesfest revealed the 2025 festival would be its last.

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