Pill testing could make attendance at music festivals and events much safer – but it could dramatically increase the financial risk borne by festivals.
After 17 years,the Caloundra Music Festival has been scrapped due to rising costs. One industry veteran says it’s time to reconsider the role of such events.
A proposal for a year-long pill-testing trial in Victoria will be considered by cabinet after Premier Jacinta Allan called overdoses of teens at festivals an “unimaginable” horror.
The proposed 12-month trial would likely include mobile teams at music festivals,where patrons could have their illicit drugs tested and receive harm reduction advice.
Residents and businesses say the Teneriffe Festival is too large and disruptive for the suburb,while the festival says the expansion has been carefully managed.
Return to Rio,created by husband and wife duo Ricky and Alex Cooper,was born in 2013 but last year confronted $300,000 in extra costs under the state’s controversial “user pays” system.
The problem for the festival is that it is synonymous not with iconic music but with A-listers and overpriced beer.
“We need to encourage people to stay interested in arts and culture,rather than scare them off by saying it’s falling apart.”
Despite the rough lead-up and dropping half of its acts,Pandemonium music festival didn’t live up to its name – and was ultimately a pretty good time.
In the 1970s,the Sunbury festival celebrated rock music and youthful indulgence. On the weekend,the crowd returned. This time their clothes stayed on.
The iconic festival gave us the return of No Doubt,a surprise duet from Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey and an on-stage spray courtesy of Blur frontman Damon Albarn.