Five music festivals across New South Wales have been thrown a lifeline by the state government after the Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham, announced an investment of over $2 million into emergency funding for major festivals.

The investment is only the first round of the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund to be shared since its establishment in September 2024. A combined total of $2.25 million will be distributed across Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Yours And Owls in Wollongong and Listen Out and Field Day in Sydney.

The emergency fund aims to combat the cancellation of beloved festivals like Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, Spilt Milk and Groovin’ the Moo. Most of these festivals had faced cancellation due to changes in ticket-buying behaviours, inflation, insurance, freight, and currency exchange. As such, the $500,000 funding allocated to each festival is set to help ease some of the pressures that organisers may be facing.

“From Bluesfest, where I’ve been this weekend, through to Listen Out and Lost Paradise - people of all ages love the outdoor music festival experience and the artists they discover. We can’t afford to lose that cultural experience because the festivals can’t afford to pay their rising bills,” said Graham in a press release.

“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.”

According to Adelle Robinson, the Managing Director of Fuzzy Operations (who host Listen Out and Field Day), they were “seriously considering not moving forward” with Field Day prior to receiving the funding.

“The funding we received for Listen Out and Field Day from Sound NSW were lifelines for our business,” she said in a press release. “...the market was so precarious at the end of last year.

“A reset with our programming and the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund were the two reasons the show went ahead.”

Reforms to the Music Festivals Act will work in conjunction with the funding package in order to lay out a productive festival plan that helps to reduce costs and prioritise health considerations.

These reforms will see the removal of the ‘subject’ festival designation from the Act, the introduction of a Health and Medical Plan and a mechanism which will guide festival organisers in seeking an internal review of proposed government costs directly with the relevant agency or appeal those costs through the newly established Music Festivals Panel.

The fight to save these cherished music festivals is part of the state government’s overarching commitment to revitalising NSW’s music industry and night-time economy.

They are doing so by offering extended trading hours and an 80% discount on licensing fees for venues that program live music, readjusting the noise complaints system so single serial noise complainants can no longer shut down existing venues, cutting red tape that restricted venues and increased operating costs, introducing Special Entertainment Precincts, providing Venue Upgrade grants for operators to install sound proofing and offering recording, touring and promotion grants to help artists and bands build their careers.

Applications for the next round of funding will open for eligible festivals on May 1 ahead of the upcoming summer festival season, and will be provided on an as-needs basis.