The list includes festivals such as Defqon.1, Knockout Games of Destiny, FOMO, Rolling Loud, and Laneway, just to name a few.
According to these classifications, a festival is considered “high risk” if a serious drug related illness or death occurred in the past three years. Or additionally, if the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority determined there may be a significant risk of such illness or death at those festivals.
Under the State Government’s new draconian regime, these “high risk” festivals will be forced to provide a safety management plan in order to obtain a licence.
However, in an interview with triple j’s Hack programme, Laneway organiser Danny Rogers disputes the classification by the government, noting that Laneway’s track record is better than many festivals not included on the list.
“In the past 14 years in Sydney we’ve only had two transports from the festival with over 300,000 people attending the event [in that time],” Rogers explained.
“When you put it into context it seems kind of strange and baffling.”
“Laneway being put on that list really does put every single other contemporary festival in NSW on that list,” Rogers continued. “If we’re able to make it then anyone else can.”
Most troubling though is Rogers’ assertion that this new classification could spell an end to the Sydney leg of Laneway as we know it.
