Musicians, industry figures, and lovers of local music all took to the streets of Sydney yesterday in two protests against the cancellation of one of the city’s beloved music events, the Darling Harbour Jazz and Blues Festival.
As The Age reports, Sydney’s biggest jazz festival was axed after 22 years of service, with the government authority that manages the Darling Harbour precinct dumping the three-day festival, which regularly attracts up to 300,000 punters with a host of Australian blues and jazz musicians, with previous years including the likes of Cat Empire, Ash Grunwald, and iconic trumpeter James Morrison.
The festival’s organiser, Leslie Moore, tells The Age that the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) and NSW Parliament were to be held accountable for their dismissal of the event from the local music calendar.
“A little probing will tell you that except [for] one or two, most people at SHFA don’t like jazz and believe that different events would be more suitable,” said Mr. Moore, suggesting that the family-friendly annual event, which regularly takes place over the long weekend in June, would be replace by “[something] like a light show.”
Mr. Moore indicates the NSW government had given a $400,000 grant to the SHFA to produce the three-day event, which was an “allotted amount [that] was specifically for the jazz festival and not to be used for other events,” he said. Adding that the SHFA refused to offer an explanation behind its sudden cancellation of the Darling Harbour Jazz Festival, and had apparently allocated the government funding to other events.
It wasn’t long before Industry body APRA | AMCOS caught wind of the cancellation, taking to social media to help organise to rallies opposing the cancellation of the festiva, writing:
We’re extremely disappointed to hear that the Darling Harbour Jazz/Blues Festival has been cancelled. Over the past 22 years, this long-running, extremely popular and successful event has presented a diversity of great Australian jazz and blues talent to an enormous audience. Calendar events like this also provide spin-off value for live music venues – generating a buzz around live music and an opportunity for additional programming and audience development.
APRA | AMCOS helped push the two marches held yesterday, “encouraging all APRA members and music lovers to attend.” Many took up the offer, turning up in droves at the steps of Parliament House in Macquarie Street to express their anger and frustration at the festival cancellation around noon, before moving to the offices of the Darling Harbour Foreshore Authority at Sydney’s Rocks in the afternoon to continue their protest.
A petition to save the Darling Harbour Jazz & Blues Festival has also surfaced online, with APRA | AMCOS promoting the open letter to Damien Jeacle, acting director, precinct activation and visitor services department of the SHFA, urging him to reconsider the future of the Sydney music event.
At the time of publication, nearly 12,000 names had added their signature to the petition, urging to rescue “an integral part of Sydney’s vibrant music industry.”
“Please dont deny hundreds of musicians the right to play and have their music heard,” reads the petition. “And please dont deny the public the opportunity to take part in this extraordinary music event.”
The only response to emerge from the SHFA is a statement on the Darling Harbour event website that reads:
The Authority is currently refreshing the activation and events plan for Darling Harbour in line with the precinct’s transformation over the coming years.
It is a very exciting time for the Darling Harbour precinct and while the Jazz and Blues Festival has been a fabulous addition to our events’ calendar for the past 22 years, there will be other opportunities to incorporate jazz and blues music in our new activation plan.
