Fairgrounds Festival May Be The Next Casualty In The ‘War On Music’

First Psyfari fell, then Mountain Sounds. Now it looks like family-friendly Fairgrounds Festival could be the next victim of NSW’s new festival regulations.

As reported by South Coast Register, Fairground Festival organiser Mark Dodds has expressed fears the new music festival regulations could spell the end for the four-year-old festival.

“If the increased cost burden on Fairgrounds is even a fraction of what I’m hearing from industry figures who are being affected this summer, Fairgrounds would simply not be able to return to the region as it has for the last four years,” said Dodds.

“We’d be forced to either abandon plans for the event altogether or relocate it festival outside NSW.”

Under the new regulations, the cost for a festival liquor licence will increase based on a festival’s ‘risk level’. This is determined by factors such as the number of attendees, the ‘type of people’, and whether it has had issues with drugs in the past.

Dodds told South Coast Register that, despite its wholesome history, the Fairgrounds Festival would likely be considered ‘extreme risk’.

Fairgrounds Festival has been held in Berry annually since 2015, and is a family-friendly event by design. Last year, in addition to its musical lineup featuring Vance Joy, Courtney Barnett and Billy Bragg, its attractions included a swimming pool; markets; craft workshops; and egg-and-spoon, three-legged and sack races.

No drugs have ever been detected at the festival since its inauguration.

Over 6000 people attended the Fairgrounds Festival in 2018, generating nearly $3 million for the local economy. “There are cafes, restaurants, equipment hire companies, cleaners, supermarkets, petrol stations, trains that all feel the effects,” said Shoalhaven Tourism manager Coralie Bell last year. “All jobs in these areas are impacted by the festival.”

Its positive effect was also recognised by MP Gareth Ward when last year Fairgrounds Festival was awarded $20,000 in funding under the NSW government’s Flagship Events Fund. And earlier this week, Fairgrounds Festival was described by Double J as “one of the best new festivals in the country”.

Fairgrounds Festival is among the many in Australia’s music industry who have signed a petition by organisation Don’t Kill Live Music, demanding the NSW government act in consultation with the music industry in establishing festival safety protocols.

“Overbearing regulation, exorbitant police bills, a lack of respect for NSW businesses, and very little recognition of the significant positive impacts of music on our communities is forcing music out of NSW,” writes Don’t Kill Live Music.

“Festivals are being used as a scapegoat for years of failed drug and alcohol policy. We want our music culture to be safe and inclusive. Onerous and ill-considered regulation will not save lives. And the State Government is decimating our music culture in the process.”

As of writing, the petition has gained over 100,000 signatures.