Music industry leaders meet in Darwin to discuss collapsing festival scene
It has been a devastating year for Australian music festivals, with mounting costs and cancellations, including last week’s news that BluesFest is coming to an end. Industry leaders recently met in Darwin to discuss the crisis and chart a way forward.
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00:00Splendour, Falls, Groove in the Moo and now Blues Fest, all among a wave of high-profile
00:10and long-running Australian festivals faltering or failing completely.
00:14Well, it's always going to be about the money.
00:17Our biggest problems we face trying to mount anything major is the cost of travelling,
00:24the cost of insurance, all those sort of things which have gone through the roof since
00:30COVID.
00:31The industry is going through a bit of a cultural change.
00:34It's almost like the perfect storm at the moment.
00:36Facing pressures on all fronts.
00:39Ticket sales are down as the cost of living bites, but insurance costs are up.
00:45And that can directly be linked to extreme weather events and climate situation.
00:50As these extreme weather events get more frequent and more severe, we're not going
00:55to be able to make these shows happen.
00:57Everyone in the industry is looking for the way forward at events like the Regional and
01:02Remote Music Summit in Darwin this month.
01:05Back in the 60s and 70s, we used to play a lot of regional events and shows.
01:10There's not that many of them anymore.
01:12Many in the business say that needs to change.
01:15And the NT specifically, you've got these crazy high prices for flights and accommodation
01:20and costs.
01:21So that just adds to artists aren't able to tour here.
01:26There's one festival that appears to be holding strong.
01:30Darwin's Bass in the Grass event held every dry season, thanks in large part due to government
01:35funding.
01:37With $9 million in federal grants now on offer across the country, it's a lifeline many venues
01:43and events are counting on.