Ticket sales to Days Like This festival drops 20 per cent after being named “higher risk”

The promoter behind a major music festival to be held in the inner west this weekend has revealed their ticket sales are down 20 per cent after being named as one of 14 “higher risk” events.

Ticket sales to this Saturday’s Days Like This music festival are down 20 per cent.

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The promoter behind a major music festival to be held in the inner west this weekend has revealed their ticket sales are down 20 per cent after being named as one of 14 “higher risk” events.

Leading Australia promoter Jason Ayoubi told the Inner West Courier the impact of being “named and shamed” has had a “catastrophic” impact on the reputation of the Days Like This Festival, being held this Saturday at Victoria Park in Camperdown.

It is one of five festivals taking legal action against the State Government after being named on the State Government’s hit list, which also included Transmission, HTID, Rolling Loud and Knockout Games of Destiny, being held at Sydney Olympic Park.

Mr Ayoubi accused the Government of “declaring war on festivals” and the music industry which is worth $1.8 billion to the state.

Jason Ayoubi (lef) and Scott Robertson from Division Agency which runs Days Like This.

He said they were expecting a turnout of about 8000 revellers this Saturday, a 20 per cent decrease from the 10,000 tickets they had sold at the same time last year.

Last Friday the State Government released a set of guidelines outlining safety measures that would need to be implemented at festivals deemed higher risk.

The Government says the new licensing regime is simply aimed at helping organisers make their events safer after a string of drug related deaths at festivals in recent months.

Mr Ayoubi said they acknolwedged the tragic deaths and did not want to detract from their severity or condone the use of illegal drugs.

“We have had to increase the size and infrastructure of our medical centre and we have had five extra user pays police put on,” Mr Ayoubi said.

“It’s just been minor additions so it seems to be political posturing rather than anything of substance really.

“The real damage has been to our reputation and brand which has been pretty catastrophic.”

“We had the premier doing a press conference where she basically called us rogue operators.

“I’ve been running events for 25 years.”

Video still of Callum Brosnan dancing at Knockout Games at Sydney Olympic Park shortly before he died of a drug-related overdose. Picture: Facebook

Mr Ayoubi is the CEO and founder of Future Entertainment which runs events like Summadayze and the Future Music Festival.

He said there was a risk promoters could take their events interstate because it already costs “upwards of $500,000” more to hold an event in NSW than Victoria.

“If you’re a punter the level of harassment and over-policing is making it uncomfortable and deterring people from attending those events.

“You are basically being treated as a criminal before you even get into the site.”

He said they were “still in the dark” as to what criteria the State Government used to deem them high risk.

“In the last three years we have had one transportation for someone who was drug affected to hospital and it wasn’t critical,” he said.

About 8000 are expected at this weekend’s Days Like This music festival, down from 10,000 last year.

The other festivals involved in the joint legal action against the State Government are Division Agency, Novel, Lost Paradise and Finely tuned.

Enyo Lawyers, who are representing them, are expected to file a claim in the Supreme Court of NSW in the next couple of weeks.

A spokeswoman said the State Government wanted music festivals to thrive but serious drug-related illnesses and deaths have demonstrated the need to make festivals safer.

“The NSW Government will continue to work with operators of festivals required to obtain a music festival licence to ensure they have appropriate safety arrangements in place, and can comply with the new licensing scheme,” she said.

“The scheme is designed to support music festival operators, particularly those who are dealing with the evolving challenge of illegal drug use at their festivals.

“Most operators, including operators of higher risk festivals, are committed to safety and work hard to do the right thing — now they will have access to more expert advice and support to help them run safer events.”