Latest news with #YoursandOwls
Time Out
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Five beloved music festivals in NSW are scoring a huge $2.25 million in funding
Splendour In The Grass? Cancelled. Falls Festival? Did not happen. Groovin the Moo? RIP. Music lovers across NSW mourned the day the music died for these fab festivals – but if you've packed away your gumboots and glitter, there's good news. The NSW Government has just stepped in to help five music festivals avoid the fate suffered by many others forced to fold in recent years – and the revival of Spilt Milk is proof that things are on the up. The first round of the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, established in September 2024, has allocated a combined $2.25 million of emergency funding to five music fests. The lucky winners are Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Yours and Owls in Wollongong, plus Listen Out and Field Day (both held in Sydney). Missed out on scoring funding for your favourite fest? Applications for the next round of funding open from May 1. Even before the pandemic, music festivals have felt the impact of rising costs, inflation, insurance nightmares, and changes in ticket buying, so this financial support has hit the right note in helping festivals manage costs while keeping the vibe alive. After all, music festivals aren't just fun – they're big business, too. NSW's festival scene supports over 14,000 jobs and pumps big bucks into local economies. Bluesfest, which was supposed to be in its final year this Easter long weekend, is proof of how ticket sales and financial help make such a big difference. Music lovers bought tickets thinking it would be their last chance to attend Bluesfest; this resulted in over 109,000 attendees – the third largest crowd in the event's 35-year history. For the promoters, it was proof enough that people want music festivals – and contrary to their 'last ever Bluesfest' marketing strategy for 2025, they're already planning for 2026. The Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham who attended Bluesfest, explained: 'The post-Covid era has been a financial nightmare for music festivals in NSW… the feedback is that this fund has helped some of these festivals survive. People of all ages love the outdoor music festival experience and the artists they discover. The festival circuit is a vital part of the live music industry which employs almost 15,000 people. It's too important to lose, that's why we're backing festivals with emergency funding and reforms that bring down their costs.'
ABC News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Police sniffer dogs to patrol Midnight Mafia festival despite drug summit recommendation
Sniffer dogs will patrol a Sydney music festival where pill testing is set to be trialled this weekend, with the Minns government again refusing to act on a key recommendation of its drug summit. Police say drug detection dogs will be deployed "throughout the precinct" of the Midnight Mafia festival at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday with a "focus on detecting supply". Earlier this month, While the government is yet to officially respond to the report, NSW Premier Chris Minns has expressed a reluctance to implement that advice. "I'm not prepared to say in relation to this big music festival, 'Look it's a big green light, if you're going to ingest drugs, the police aren't going to be there'," Mr Minns said on Wednesday. "I think that that would send the wrong message, and I think it would have the unintended consequence of seeing more people take and ingest the drugs — not less." Photo shows A scientist testing a pill-like substance. New synthetic substances are appearing in recreational drugs across Australia, increasing the risk of harm. Could pill testing change that? The report was criticised for not going far enough, including by the Redfern Legal Centre and Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who called for drug detection dogs to be banned permanently rather than merely during the trial. At the time, Ms Faehrmann said there was no excuse not to act on the recommendations, which she labelled "politically palatable". The report found "considerable support" for scrapping sniffer dogs at music festivals, with concerns their presence led to "panic consumption" and increased the risk of overdose. But it noted the law enforcement view that withdrawing dogs "may increase organised crime at events". Critics also pointed to the low accuracy of drug dogs. Critics have pointed to the low accuracy of drug dogs. ( AAP: Dean Lewins ) In 2019, an inquest into music festival deaths found that drugs were discovered in just 24 per cent of personal searches of people that dogs had indicated were carrying drugs. The organiser of Midnight Mafia, HSU Events, has warned festivalgoers to expect a police operation involving drug detection dogs. "HSU Events do not condone the possession or use of illegal drugs," the company said in a social media post this week. Pill testing trial for festival Midnight Mafia will be the second festival to participate in the state's pill testing trial, after NSW Health debuted its drug checking service at the Yours and Owls event in Wollongong in March. Pill testing will take place at the festival. ( ABC Illawarra: Mikalya McQuirk-Scolaro ) About 100 attendees submitted their drugs for testing at Yours and Owls, with 10 per cent of samples turning out to be a different substance. Sniffer dogs were present at the festival too, At the same event, 23 people were charged with drug possession offences. Pill testing was also amongst the summit's recommendations, but a trial of it was announced months before the report's release. The premier indicated that police would not be targeting those using the drug checking service at Midnight Mafia, which is expected to draw a crowd of 23,000. "Obviously it would be counterproductive if you had a tent … where drug testing took place, or pill testing took place, and then the individual was immediately nabbed as they walked out of the tent," Mr Minns said. "The protocol is very clear in relation to that, and police won't be enforcing that aspect of law enforcement," he said.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Hear that? It's the sound of live music dying for local Australian artists
While it's tempting to assume Australians have fallen out of love with live music, that theory falls apart when you look at the masses packing stadiums for Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, etc. The passion hasn't disappeared but instead has shifted. With rising living costs and post-COVID lifestyles, most people prefer to spend on one big, familiar show rather than take a chance on something new at their local venue. Even as a regular supporter of local live music, I'm still struck by how little attention it gets – despite the extraordinary talent emerging across the country. I don't blame audiences for gravitating towards what they know, but it's worth asking what impact these choices have. This week we heard Bluesfest, Lost Paradise, Yours and Owls, Listen Out and Field Day will be receiving up to $500,000 each in emergency funding from the NSW government, with Labor's expanded Revive Live pledge granting other festivals across the country $100,000 or less each, but they need more than that in expensive ticket sales if they're going to make back the $3.9 million it costs, on average, to host one. Costs global conglomerates like Live Nation – with festivals including Spilt Milk and iconic music venues across the country including Melbourne's Palais Theatre in its portfolio – and TEG, which owns festivals including Laneway and venues including Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, can theoretically afford to pay up front. After all, they're parachuting in international headliners like Post Malone, Stormzy and Charli XCX for (usually exclusive) appearances, guaranteeing fans will pay exorbitant ticket prices. So maybe the real question is, if the appetite for live music is still there, how do we redirect even a fraction of that attention back to our own talent? One way this used to happen was through international acts having to select local openers, but now that's optional and rarely the case. More often than not, when I've missed out on a touring opportunity, the support slot has been filled by an artist flown in from overseas or one backed by a major label team. Another suggestion often thrown at smaller artists is to focus on social media, as it's now seen as the new pathway to success. And while platforms like TikTok have helped artists connect with listeners beyond their local scenes, I don't think they've replaced the need for real-world opportunities – but instead only reinforced existing inequalities. Big artists have the marketing budgets to dominate the digital conversation. TikTok is strategically flooded by global players with concert clips that only help create FOMO, driving up demand and ticket sales – helping the biggest names grow even bigger. Meanwhile, smaller artists struggle to cut through the social media noise, and the pressure to go viral often shifts the focus away from the music itself and onto creating content just to stay visible. And, if they do go viral and then get played on the radio, outdated royalty caps mean they don't get much money from featuring on the airwaves. I don't believe there is a singular villain here, but instead a conversation to be had about the growing gap between the support we give international names versus how to better support our own. If we don't back the artists right in front of us, we risk losing the very live scene those stadium shows were built on. When I think back to that touring offer I was given, that left me torn between financial survival and artistic opportunity, I realise it was never just about myself as an artist but instead reflected a bigger story. One where emerging Australian artists are expected to work, sometimes in ways that may not align with their values, for exposure, fund their own growth, and hope for a break that's increasingly further out of reach. However, unless we create more space and opportunity for local talent to grow, we might one day find ourselves with nothing local left to champion.
The Age
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Hear that? It's the sound of live music dying for local Australian artists
While it's tempting to assume Australians have fallen out of love with live music, that theory falls apart when you look at the masses packing stadiums for Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, etc. The passion hasn't disappeared but instead has shifted. With rising living costs and post-COVID lifestyles, most people prefer to spend on one big, familiar show rather than take a chance on something new at their local venue. Even as a regular supporter of local live music, I'm still struck by how little attention it gets – despite the extraordinary talent emerging across the country. I don't blame audiences for gravitating towards what they know, but it's worth asking what impact these choices have. This week we heard Bluesfest, Lost Paradise, Yours and Owls, Listen Out and Field Day will be receiving up to $500,000 each in emergency funding from the NSW government, with Labor's expanded Revive Live pledge granting other festivals across the country $100,000 or less each, but they need more than that in expensive ticket sales if they're going to make back the $3.9 million it costs, on average, to host one. Costs global conglomerates like Live Nation – with festivals including Spilt Milk and iconic music venues across the country including Melbourne's Palais Theatre in its portfolio – and TEG, which owns festivals including Laneway and venues including Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, can theoretically afford to pay up front. After all, they're parachuting in international headliners like Post Malone, Stormzy and Charli XCX for (usually exclusive) appearances, guaranteeing fans will pay exorbitant ticket prices. So maybe the real question is, if the appetite for live music is still there, how do we redirect even a fraction of that attention back to our own talent? One way this used to happen was through international acts having to select local openers, but now that's optional and rarely the case. More often than not, when I've missed out on a touring opportunity, the support slot has been filled by an artist flown in from overseas or one backed by a major label team. Another suggestion often thrown at smaller artists is to focus on social media, as it's now seen as the new pathway to success. And while platforms like TikTok have helped artists connect with listeners beyond their local scenes, I don't think they've replaced the need for real-world opportunities – but instead only reinforced existing inequalities. Big artists have the marketing budgets to dominate the digital conversation. TikTok is strategically flooded by global players with concert clips that only help create FOMO, driving up demand and ticket sales – helping the biggest names grow even bigger. Meanwhile, smaller artists struggle to cut through the social media noise, and the pressure to go viral often shifts the focus away from the music itself and onto creating content just to stay visible. And, if they do go viral and then get played on the radio, outdated royalty caps mean they don't get much money from featuring on the airwaves. I don't believe there is a singular villain here, but instead a conversation to be had about the growing gap between the support we give international names versus how to better support our own. If we don't back the artists right in front of us, we risk losing the very live scene those stadium shows were built on. When I think back to that touring offer I was given, that left me torn between financial survival and artistic opportunity, I realise it was never just about myself as an artist but instead reflected a bigger story. One where emerging Australian artists are expected to work, sometimes in ways that may not align with their values, for exposure, fund their own growth, and hope for a break that's increasingly further out of reach. However, unless we create more space and opportunity for local talent to grow, we might one day find ourselves with nothing local left to champion.
Perth Now
28-04-2025
- Perth Now
Pill test trial will keep music festivalgoers safe
Music festivalgoers in one state will be able to "make more informed decisions" about any substances they wish to consume, with a controversial pill-testing trial being rolled out. Midnight Mafia - to be held on May 3 at Sydney Showground - will be the second music festival in NSW to participate in the state-backed trial aimed at drug harm reduction. The festival draws more than 20,000 attendees annually. The first, in March, was the Yours and Owls festival in Wollongong, where 100 punters used the facility. Police also charged 23 people with possessing prohibited drugs and kicked out six patrons, with the government emphasising "illicit drugs remain illegal in NSW." Health Minister Ryan Park said the 12-month trial where up to 10 sites will be included was a crucial health intervention. "This trial is about helping festivalgoers make more informed decisions about drug use with the goal of reducing harm and saving lives," he said on Tuesday. The free and anonymous drug-checking service allows patrons to bring a small sample of substances they intend to consume for analysis. Qualified health staff provide a rapid evaluation of the main components of the substances in line with available technology, and an indication of potency where possible. Advocates say pill testing is a proven harm minimisation strategy used in many countries for decades, while opponents say it sends mixed messages about the risks of using and possessing illicit drugs. The announcement of the second festival to participate in the trial comes after a contentious drug summit report released earlier in April. Among its 56 recommendations was a pilot phase to stop the use of sniffer dogs and strip-searching festival patrons suspected of possessing drugs. Drug-checking was also the top recommendation of a 2019 inquiry into the deaths of six young people at music festivals when Coroner Harriet Grahame found evidence to support community- and festival-based services was "compelling". That recommendation was rejected by the then-Liberal government, which opted instead for amnesty bins at festival entrances.
