Return to Rio,a boutique funk,soul and house music festival held at Wisemans Ferry since 2013 is the latest event to be cancelled or abandoned in the face of escalating expenses and the cost-of-living crisis.
Ricky and Alex Cooper.Rhett Wyman
“It’s devastating,” said Alex Cooper,who founded the event with husband Ricky. “There needs to be more done for the industry to survive. It’s just financially unviable.”
The announcement will increase pressure on the NSW Labor government,which is reviewing music festival regulations amid a nationwide nadir that has seen Groovin the Moo,Falls and Splendour in the Grass all take a break.
In NSW,festivals deemed high-risk or “subject” events must submit a complex safety management plan that typically requires a bigger police and medical presence,and comes with significant costs that are billed to organisers.
Return to Rio was not held during COVID,or in 2022 due to floods,but when it returned last year,it was deemed a subject festival under the new laws. The Coopers said their police and medical costs increased 529 per cent over 2019 levels as a result. In total,extra costs amounted to $300,000,they said,including planning,infrastructure and harm minimisation services.
Crowds at the Return to Rio festival on the Hawkesbury.Supplied
Police fees of $110,000 included patrolling officers,a boat on the Hawkesbury River and an on-site compound. There was a similar ratio of police officers to revellers as public schools had teachers to students,Alex said. There were 24 medics and two ambulances on standby,with six medical presentations recorded over three days.
Organisers also had to maintain a separate,staffed control room. “For a few thousand people,we had to have a policeman,a medic,a security guard,a member of the production team,a member of the bar team and they had to stay in the central control room all day,” Ricky said.
He said the festival previously had an “amazing relationship” with local police from Windsor. “We got on with them,and we enjoy working with them,and we run a very safe event.”
The Coopers said they would have had to increase ticket prices by about $100 to cover costs and in current economic conditions that would lead to a “massive drop off in our expected numbers”,so it was not viable to proceed. They hope the festival can return next year.
Skeggs at Splendour in the Grass in 2023. It was one of the highest-profile festival cancellations of 2024.Bianca Holderness
NSW Police said last year’s Return to Rio attendance was capped at 4500 over three days,with the highest number on a single day 1794. Over three days,they searched 31 people,recorded drugs in 15 incidences and refused entry to eight people. They also conducted a highway patrol operation nearby to coincide with the festival.
Police said the user pays program was a not-for-profit scheme and simply recovered the cost of personnel and resources. “Recovering this cost ensures more police are available for duty and maintains normal policing services to the community,” they said.
During a recent budget estimates session,parliament heard festival organisers were.
“In Victoria and the ACT,they don’t have this problem,” Ricky said. “In Queensland,they don’t have this problem. The rest of the world,they don’t have this problem. And we didn’t have the problem before 2019.”
Last year,the Labor state government commissioned a review of the Music Festivals Act. But Mitch Wilson,head of the Australian Festivals Association,said there was still no indication where that review was heading and any legislative changes would take time.
“We’re really starting to push into the next festival season,” Wilson said. “Organisers make all their plans six,nine,12 months out.” It was no surprise they were choosing not to hold events in NSW,given the “ridiculous” fees,they said.
Arts and Music Minister John Graham said the announcement of another festival cancellation “adds further concern about the health and viability of the sector”.
He acknowledged organisers in NSW had to deal with higher costs of doing business and a heavier regulatory burden compared to other states.
Graham did not answer questions about the review but said he had met with stakeholders to discuss how government could improve viability.
