Big question Splendour in the Grass still needs to answer

Music lovers have been assured Splendour will be back next year, but there is a huge question organisers still need to answer about the future of the festival.

As festivalgoers continue to reel from the chaos that was this year’s Splendour in the Grass festival, one big question still remains about the future of the event.

Flooded campsites, boggy conditions, major delays getting out of the gates and poor communication are just some of the issues that plagued the festival following its long awaited return.

On Monday Splendour in the Grass co-founder Jess Ducrou said the festival would “definitely” be back in 2023 despite the controversy, telling Triple J’s Hack that organisers “did the best we could” under the tough conditions.

One thing organisers haven’t answered is what, if anything, they plan on doing differently to ensure the same mistakes don’t resurface next year.

Bernard Zuel, music journalist and lecturer at the Sydney University, told news.com.au he believed the situation was handled “terribly”, pointing out that many of the many of the issues that arose could have been anticipated and planned for.

The wet weather and muddy conditions, particularly in high traffic areas, are all problems that have been encountered by the festival before, though maybe not to this degree.

The wet weather resulted in very muddy conditions at Splendour in the Grass 2022. Picture: Matt Gazy

“Maybe a few months ago, you might not be sure that it’s going to rain, but it’s a pretty reasonable chance because it often rains at this time and for the past year we have been told this is going to be a really wet year,” Mr Zuel said.

“The grounds where the main performance space is can be dangerous. High traffic areas between the stages and around the food stalls get turned into a quagmire after a couple of days of rain and 30, 40, 50,000 people walking through.

“I don’t know how long you can keep going with a festival that presents these kind of problems at different levels. It’s not always bad, but this kind of problem consistently.”

One of the other problems that plagued the event was festivalgoers being forced to wait for six hours in crowded, muddy lines to get on a pre-booked bus out of the festival on Saturday night.

There was no food, nowhere to sit due to the mud and some claimed the only water available were a few cans being passed back through the line.

Splendour organisers apologised the following day, blaming the delays on “bus driver shortages”.

This trio were still left stranded at Splendour at 4am after hours in a bus queue. They eventually arrived home at 6am. Picture: TikTok

Another group who booked an Airbnb in a nearby town got home at 6.14am as the sun rose. Picture: TikTok

Mr Zuel believes the preparation for the event was “poorly handled”, saying that things like driver shortages or staff shortages due to Covid should have all been planned for.

Despite all of this, people will continue to buy tickets to Splendour in the grass, with Mr Zuel saying it would likely take a few years in a row of the chaos seen this year to have an impact on the festival.

“The festival can survive. But it is not a question of whether the festival can survive, it’s what it is going to do to do better,” he said.

“They know that midwinter festivals are very rare so they are going to keep doing it and they will just put more money into it. But will they put more money into making facilities better or just to make sure they can put it back on a recoup their losses?”

Mr Zuel noted that Splendour has an important presence within the industry and a lot of people rely on this festival going ahead, but it “needs to be better” in terms of planning moving forward.

News.com.au has contacted Splendour in the Grass for comment.

Longtime music journalist and media personality, Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis, told news.com.au that he hopes the festival organisers do a “really serious post mortem” on this year’s event.

“You would really hope, out of decency, good business practice and to protect the name of their built up for two decades, that they would,” he said.

However, Jabba said he “couldn’t imagine” that the events at Splendour this year would have any serious, long term impacts for the festival and its brand.

“I can’t imagine it’s not going to sell out (next year),” he said, pointing out that while there were many people who were – justifiably – unhappy, there were likely thousands of others who had a great time.

Despite the complaints, there were still many of attendees that enjoyed their time. Picture: Charlie Hardy

Revellers embraced the muddy conditions. Picture: Richard Gosling

However, he did question whether the decision to increase the capacity from 35,000 to 50,000 played a part in the issues the festival experienced.

Jabba also noted whether the current site is “truly suitable” in the long-term for events of that size given the issues experienced this year.

The decision to increase the number of tickets did not sit well with many people, particularly Byron Bay locals who say the site can’t continue to support such large crowds.

There has also long been controversy around the decision to allow the festival to be held at the North Byron Parklands, citing the damage that is done every year to the area.

So, what can be done going forward?

Well, music festivals in Australia already have a number of legal responsibilities they must adhere to, including workplace health and safety requirements, providing adequate provision of basic necessities and to provide goods and services which are of an acceptable quality and that are fit for purpose.

This year, Splendour in the Grass was presented with a number of worst case scenarios and there is no doubt that the people on the ground worked hard to deal with what was thrown at them.

Splendour organises have said they did the best they could under the conditions. Picture: Matt Gazy

Specialist event lawyer Kathryn Adams has offered a few tips on some important things all organisers should consider before putting on any big event, though she noted it was “not my place to give legal advice about the particular circumstances” surrounding Splendour.

Ms Adams, who runs Event Law, told news.com.au that anyone organising a big event should not only have a Plan B, but a Plan C as well.

“One that takes into account all factors which could come into play at any given time,” she said.

Ms Adams said that communication with patrons is “absolutely key” to ensuring an event runs smoothly and in a safe manner, along with adequate levels of staffing.

She also noted that there are a number of challenges that big events can come up against, particularly if they are held outdoors.

“Events not only have to deal with Covid-19, they need to deal with severe weather conditions, regardless of how far into the future the event may seem,” she said.