Greens Propose Music Festival Support Package At Final Bluesfest
Image: Photo credit: Joseph Mayers
The Greens have unveiled a plan to keep the Australian music festival scene alive at the final Bluesfest in Byron Bay.
Announced by Greens Senator and Spokesperson for the Arts Sarah Hanson-Young alongside Greens Richmond candidate Mandy Nolan and Bluesfest director Peter Noble, the plan aims to directly inject funds into festivals across the country to create a vastly healthier scene for festivalgoers and organisers alike.
The Greens’ plan would involve $20 million a year in grants for festivals, $2 million to investigate the failure of insurance in the festival scene and the dedicated creation of a festivals strategy for Australia, as well as tax offsets for touring artists and tangible support for small businesses running festivals.
In a statement, Senator Hanson-Young said: “Our festivals are in crisis. Over the past few years we have seen the cancellation after cancellation of loved and iconic festivals. It’s clear that the government needs to step in to help the industry.
“The Albanese Government made some big promises to the arts industry when they were first elected, almost 3 years on they have failed to deliver. A plan for the arts is nothing without the funding required to support the industry.”
Continuing on, Hanson-Young stressed the importance of festivals for regional communities and the larger Australian music community.
“I am excited to be making this announcement at Bluesfest, an iconic Australian festival and a great example of how investment in the arts drives local, regional economies,” she said.
“The Greens always have been and always will be the party for the arts. This election, to support our arts and creative industries you have to vote Green.”
The Australian music festival scene in crisis
The announcement of the package at Bluesfest 2025 is rather appropriate, given that the festival announced that this year’s incarnation of the festival would be its last in August last year.
Bluesfest is far from the only music festival to be cancelled in recent years, either. Splendour In The Grass, Groovin The Moo and Good Life Festival all faced cancellations in the last year, despite their tenured histories.
Recently, the festival grounds for Splendour were also put up for sale, a death knell for what was once a cornerstone of the Australian music festival scene.
There are a number of reasons for the slow demise of the Australian festival scene, and music scene in general, investigated by a government report released last month titled ‘Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again?’.
Ballooning costs for both organisers and patrons thanks to the cost-of-living crisis and the unpredictability of weather due to climate change are chief among the concerns, while an increasingly corporate music industry and a critical lack of artist income have also contributed to the current situation.
Festivals have also come under scrutiny for issues such as a lack of accessibility, unlawful strip searching and ignoring sexual assault.
Furthermore, despite some attempts by the NSW Government to reinvigorate the scene locally, plans to raise the number of events in venues like the Centennial Parklands were scrapped earlier this year.
While government recommendations and Greens proposals are attempting to salvage the industry, it remains to be seen if the music festival scene in Australia can be saved or if it will continue down the current track towards a slow and painful death.
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