Falls Festival cancellation marks a change in summer music
Multi-day music festivals have been a rite of passage for so many Australians, but as our summers become more unpredictable, all that could be coming to an end, writes Cameron Adams.
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Running an outdoor music festival in Australia is a seriously risky business.
You need major knowledge, plenty of luck and eye-watering insurance premiums because weather is rarely your friend.
Over the weekend, the Falls Festival in Lorne axed their entire event ahead of predicted extreme weather conditions that would make the Victorian arm of the national festival potentially unsafe.
Around 9000 punters camping on site who’d got there early saw the first of four nights only (with John Farnham, Vera Blue and Parcels) and were then forced had to pack up and leave. They were offered a full refund, but found themselves stuck in traffic and with a gaping hole in their New Year’s Eve plans.
RELATED: Falls Festival Lorne cancelled amid extreme fire danger
Some acts, including Halsy and Yungblud, held last minute shows in Melbourne, with priority entry given to Falls ticket holders and all proceeds going to the fireys.
The last minute cancellation was obviously not a decision taken lightly. The event has run at Lorne since 1993 before eventually becoming a national event that travels to Byron Bay, Tasmania and Fremantle (shows which are all still on track to run as planned).
Naturally some Falls punters vented about the event’s premature end, posting photos of the traffic jam exiting the site, while others claimed the cancellation was “paranoia” and that the site would be safe from bushfires. Some even claimed that the cancellation was a PR move to stop drug-related deaths, but most had the sense to realise that the action was done in the interest of safety and thought of the worst case scenario.
Falls is the first Victorian festival to be cancelled due to the bushfire emergency, but it’s not alone. Lost Paradise music festival, due to take place on the NSW Central Coast over New Year’s was axed earlier this month after fires raged around the festival’s site in the Glenworth Valley. “We simply cannot put anyone’s life at risk,” an organiser stated, noting there was no time to find a new venue.
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In Wollongong, the Day of Dance party, due to be held on January 1, was cancelled as the venue is now on standby as a disaster recovery and evacuation site. “There is a much bigger, and more important picture at play here,” organisers said. “Our disappointment in this outcome pales in comparison to the anguish, loss, and grief that the victims of these fires in our local community (and beyond) are currently experiencing.”
Axing any show, let alone a major festival held across several days worth is an extremely costly exercise, but it’s precisely why promoters pay for those costly insurance premiums.
But as for the local businesses who’ll lose money in accommodation and hospitality and rely on festivals for tourism there’s no wins.
According to Mick Newton, the music promoter behind A Day on the Green, the price of insuring against any potential weather condition is “astronomical”.
RELATED: Beyond The Valley halted amid extreme weather conditions
“I can’t even look at the insurance bill, it’s frightening, but you have to have it. One or two shows that cancel could wipe you out. But it’s a necessity for the peace of mind. It’s a cost of doing business for us, because we do outdoor shows,” Newton says.
So are we reaching a tipping point for outdoor music festivals?
Multi-day summer festivals like Falls are seen as a rite of passage for so many Australians.
But as bushfires become more severe and more of a risk, can music festivals in picturesque bush settings continue without risking lives in bushfire season?
No one has a crystal ball to predict future weather, but in the past huge outdoor festivals have come unstuck due to financial mismanagement or major changes in pop culture, not the climate. And it’s this unpredictable factor that surely will have organisers and punters getting increasingly anxious.
Cameron Adams is a national music reporter for News Corp.