Download Festival's Sydney Debut Deemed A Success Despite 'Excessive Police Presence'

11 March 2019 | 1:24 pm | Staff Writer

20,000 attended the festival on Saturday.

Download Festival Australia organisers have praised the 20,000-strong who attended the Sydney debut this past weekend, despite "excessive police presence".

As event operators prepare to take legal action against the NSW Government following the release of its "high risk" festival list, Download organisers praised those who attended Saturday's debut at Parramatta Park. 

"Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s excessive police presence could not dampen the spirits of heavy music lovers in Sydney," a statement issued on Sunday reads. 

"Organisers were thrilled with respectful crowd behaviour, working with emergency services to complete a safe and incident-free event with four medical transfers, three for pre-existing medical conditions, one for a fence jump gone wrong.

"Download patrons proving once again they can have a drama free good time."

Download 2019 will wrap up in Melbourne today. Check out our review of the Sydney festival here.

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