Good Things Announce Under-18s Can No Longer Attend Sydney Event Due To “Exorbitant” Police Fees
"We believe that live music and festivals are for everyone, but unfortunately the NSW state government does not share the same view."
Good Things Festival have announced that under-18s will no longer be able to attend the Sydney event, due to the “exorbitant fees” of the NSW Police.
In a statement this morning, organisers claimed that the NSW Police have “imposed multiple impediments”, including “excessive police presence and exorbitant fees”, which make it impossible for the festival to allow patrons under the age of 18 to attend the Sydney show.
“Good Things Festival believes that live music and festivals are for everyone but unfortunately the NSW state government does not share the same view,” they wrote.
“Even though it is not against the law, NSW police have imposed multiple impediments, including excessive police presence and exorbitant fees, making it impossible for us to allow anyone under 18 to attend the event. Sadly, we’re not the only festival to be hit with this as representatives of the NSW state government have threatened to shut down music festivals they believe don’t meet their standards.”
Organisers state they exhausted all options to reach an agreement, including bringing in lawyers. “Sadly, the NSW police are enforcing significant costs for over policing the event which is not only wasting police resources, but it also has a significant impact on the experience for all of the festival patrons and making it impossible for the event organisers to allow under 18’s to attend,” they concluded.
“We have been working around the clock for months to try and ensure the event goes ahead as planned, but we have seen unprecedented opposition to the event from the police and the government,” Promoter & General Manager Chris O’Brien said in a statement.
“The experience for all customers was going to be impacted. We have had to make the very difficult decision to turn the event to over 18’s only to avoid Under 18’s being forced to watch bands behind a 1.8 metre high chain wire fence.”
The Brisbane and Melbourne events are unaffected by the change. The announcement comes only a few days after boutique NSW dance fest Bohemian Beatfreaks accused the NSW Police of pricing them out of holding the event by imposing a mandatory $200,000 fee. The fee for their 2017 event was only $10,000.