Australia’s music festival scene is facing a growing threat from extreme weather, with new data showing a sharp rise in event cancellations linked to severe conditions.
Research from Green Music Australia found that 85 per cent of people have faced wild weather at music festivals in the past year, with over 26 events cancelled in just one week.
So, should the government be stepping in to help save Australia’s music scene from extreme weather?
On Friday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with Green Music Australia CEO Berish Bilander to unpack it all.
“We’ve seen at least 50 major festivals cancelled since 2015, which is a lot higher than the previous decade,” he said.
Bilander said that extreme heat, heavy rains, and bushfires are increasingly forcing festival goers to leave early or events shutting down.
While some state governments have offered grants and relief packages to save live music festivals, Bilander believes more is needed.
“Music and arts and culture generally isn’t like a nice to have. This is like what helps us get through hard times, what helps us feel alive. It’s kind of the stuff that makes life worth living,” he said.
“I don’t think government support should be an optional situation in this case,” he added.
“There’s no music on a dead planet, and it seems trite, but it is absolutely true.”
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