After more than four decades of providing live music and community events in the inner west Sydney suburb of Newtown, the organisers of the Newtown Festival have announced its closure.
The festival, which has been raising funds for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre each year, will no longer be held as the Centre has stated on their website that they no longer have the ability to operate the event, which started all the way back in 1978.
“Over the last 40 years, Newtown Festival has experienced significant growth, with many more businesses, sponsors and people attending the event,” the statement read. “While this has been exciting to witness, this large-scale financial endeavor has eclipsed the resources, capabilities and purpose of NNC. After years of careful consideration, which involved reviewing a number of possible funding scenarios and business cases, as well as community consultation, NNC’s board has made the decision to discontinue the festival.”
A review found that if the Newtown Festival was to continue to run as a free event, which has been doing for many years, the centre would be “severely impacted financially, putting key services and staffing at risk.”
Over the decades, the festival has featured a diverse music lineup spanning multiple genres. A strong mix of established and emerging artists have performed at the event, including a then-unknown The Kid LAROI in 2018.
Aside from live music, the festival also offered an assortment of market stalls, workshops, and other community-focused attractions every year.
Instead of holding the Newtown Festival, the NNC has decided to participate in three other events organised by the Inner West Council. he events that the centre will participate in are SummerFest, Marrickville Music Festival, and the Stanmore Music Festival. For one of these events, the centre will partner with the organisers as a charity partner.
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