Future Music Festival’s underage spin-off Good Life, is expecting to see drug and alcohol testing as a condition of entry into the event.
The festival for young music lovers aged 12-17 has been running in Melbourne for a number of years, and has recently expanded to Sydney. Noted as the largest outdoor underage festival in Australia, promoters and authorities are on board to keep it a clean and safe event for teenagers.
According to The Daily Telegraph, a zero-tolerance policy to drugs and alcohol possession has been enforced by promoter Future Events for the underage festivals. Future are obviously taking every precaution to ensure there isn’t an incident at their event, with ticket holders will be required to complete a breath-test, pat down, bag check, and metal detector scan before being allowed into the event.
A Good Life spokesperson commented that “The measures are there to create a big deterrent to the people who want to do the wrong thing and to protect the health and safety of everyone going to the festival.”
Adding that: “We want all these people to be able to mingle with their peers and enjoy the artists.”
Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse expects to be filled with over 15,000 excited teens on March 10, and are enforcing every precaution to keep it a “clean, well-managed event”.“We are taking a zero-tolerance approach to all prohibited substances…” – Superintendent Gavin Dengate, NSW Police
NSW police have given their full approval for the initiative, with Superintendent Gavin Dengate stating “I support the move 100 per cent.”
He has confirmed that there will be over 100 police scanning the venue inside and out, as well as sniffer dogs which will be present to locate any narcotics on site.
“We are taking a zero-tolerance approach to all prohibited substances and anyone seen in possession of or consuming any illicit substance will be dealt with immediately,” Supt Dengate said.
Children found to be affected by drugs or alcohol are to be refused entry into the event, and taken to an on site “care unit”, said a Good Life spokesperson.
This initiative is to reassure parents that their kids will be kept safe, and allows the children to enjoy the festival environment without the risk of drugs and alcohol. For some children it is their first concert, so keeping it risk free is high priority to festival promoters.
It is yet to be confirmed whether Melbourne’s Good Life Festival, held at Flemington Racecourse on March 8, will adopt the same policy.
Acts involved in this years Good Life festival in Melbourne and Sydney include Dizzee Rascal, Avicii, Psy, and Hardwell, to name a few.
Police enforcement at music festivals has remained a continued presence throughout the summer festival season, with sniffer dogs out in force at most legs of the Big Day Out festival in January, an issue explored in our opinion editorial on the matter that argued to cease using them as a means for stamping out drug culture at music events where punters have been praised for their responsible behaviour in the last six months.
Police were “pleased” with the small number of arrest’s at Sydney’s Big Day Out, which saw 55,000 punters flock to Homebush and resulting in a handful of arrests and charges.
Meredith’s 12,000 strong crowd at last year’s event were also praised by local police as “very well behaved,” after just two drug arrests and two more related incidents, while over in Perth, Claremont council labelled punters to electronic music event Stereosonic “the worst ever”, despite a meagre 27 drug seizures compared to the 30,000 strong crowd.
