Are NSW Police Out To Hurt Music Festivals Following Good Things Change?
The festival has been forced to change its Sydney leg from all ages to over 18's.
The viability of music festivals in New South Wales has been called into question following today's announcement that Good Things Festival has been forced to change its Sydney leg from an all ages show to an over 18's event.
In a statement issued this morning, festival promoter and general manager Chris O'Brien said that the move was a result of them facing "unprecedented opposition" from the NSW state government and police including "exorbitant fees".
In documents obtained by The Music, it can be revealed that the quote for police to patrol the festival at Parramatta Park on 8 December is eight times higher than the cost for the Melbourne leg at Flemington Racecourse on 7 December.
NSW Police quoted Good Things organisers an estimated $71,112.37 including GST (reduced from an original quote of $107,792.49 including GST), while Victoria Police quoted just $13,004.90.
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The Sydney quote is staggering given that 15,000 people are expected to attend the festival, while the now-defunct Soundwave Festival received a lesser bill in 2013 ($104,060) which drew a capacity of 80,000 festivalgoers.
"The experience for all customers was going to be impacted," O'Brien said in a statement today.
"We have had to make the very difficult decision to turn the event to over 18’s only to avoid under 18’s been forced to watch bands behind a 1.8m high chain wire fence.”
Good Things' events in Melbourne and Brisbane will go ahead as all-ages shows.
NSW Police issued the below statement to The Music regarding the Good Things news.
"Good Things festival organisers expressed a willingness to alter the format of the festival to an 'over-18's' event following a series of discussions with the Parramatta Police Area Command over recent weeks," the statement reads.
"Police had expressed their concern about an original proposal to feature two separate stage areas at the venue, requiring double the usual police presence and potentially exposing under-18's to the nearby supply of alcohol.
"Organisers moved to reduce risks and lower the related police costs by limiting the venue to one stage and restricting access to the event to adults only.
"The festival's modifications have met police requirements concerning safety and licensing issues."
The findings come just a week after a report detailing the music and arts economy in NSW says that the state has a "music venue crisis". Read more about the report here.
The debut Good Things festival will include performances from acts such as The Offspring, Stone Sour, Dashboard Confessional, The Used, Babymetal and The Smith Street Band; for more details, check out theGuide.
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