Sydney Laneway festival punters complain about alcohol restrictions and getting ‘drenched’ at festival

Laneway Festival fans have complained about getting “drenched” and having strict rules imposed on them after buying a beer.

Music fans have had a serious whinge after attending the Sydney leg of the renowned Laneway Festival over the weekend.

Punters have complained about only being able to drink at certain parts of the festival site, and being “drenched” with rain, saying it was “horrible” and a “tough day”.

The touring music festival took place in Sydney’s iconic Domain yesterday, after traditionally being held at Callan Park in Rozelle in the city’s inner west.

But the new venue came with a series of tight licencing restrictions, after the NSW government rolled out a series of strictly imposed rules over 2019. The rules meant punters were not allowed to carry their beers, wines or alcoholic kombuchas through the festival grounds, and were restricted to drink in licenced zones.

A map of the venue detailed the areas where punters could grab a drink, and where they weren’t allowed to booze on. The pink area indicates a booze-friendly zone.

Attendees at Laneway Festival were only allowed to drink alcohol in the pink areas.

While there are two distinct areas where punters could grab a drink at either side of the festival site, one of them fairly large, there is also an equally large area of the festival site where the site is not licenced. Festival goers told news.com.au they weren’t allowed to drink alcohol in these zones, saying it caused aggravation among the crowd. They also complained that as people tried to move back and forth between the bars and stage areas, they had to move through a small access point which became a bottleneck with long wait times.

News.com.au understands the festival’s different licencing zones were a requirement of NSW licensing rules for festivals, and the decision to restrict where people could drink was not made by the organisers of Laneway Festival.

To be able to comply with the state’s tough licencing regulations, people under the age of 18 weren’t allowed into the licenced areas, and those with drinks weren’t allowed to take them into a zone where an underage person would be. Festival organisers had to work around these restrictions, while trying to ensure audience flow, and good visibility of all stages for people drinking and the underage crowd.

As if the licencing restrictions weren’t enough of a headache, it also rained.

Hundreds of others complained online about getting “drenched” at the festival, as Sydney yesterday received 21mm of rain over the last 24 hours.

Numerous festival goers shared photos of themselves drenched after showers on Sunday.

Attendees described the rain as “torrential” and many shared photos of themselves after they’d been drenched, saying they looked like “drowned rats”. Some said the rain was welcome as most of the country endures the ongoing drought. But others couldn’t cope with the unfamiliar water from the sky.

So like I know we really need rain and stuff but it was HORRIBLE at Laneway. Like Mother Nature was being a liiiitttle bit dramatic of you ask me x

— Gabs🌻 (@Gxbriellemxry) February 2, 2020

I got a cold from the laneway rain

— neds betting (@theslopdog69) February 2, 2020

Pouring rain made Laneway a tough day out but The 1975 was so so amazing it was all worthwhile. Best band in the world.

— Patrick Avenelllllllllll (@Patrickavenell) February 2, 2020

can’t believe i left laneway before seeing charli n the 1975 but i couldnt walk n the rain was wau too heavy

— cass (@cherry_bratz) February 2, 2020

St Jeromes Laneway Festival has three dates left, in Adelaide on Friday, Melbourne on Saturday and Fremantle on Sunday.