Yet another blow : The Bluesfest cancellation has left Australia s live music industry reeling, as peak bodies call for festival pandemic insurance David Adams Mark
The cancellation of Byron Bay s Bluesfest music festival was another hit to confidence for Australia s struggling live performance industry, a peak industry body says.
NSW Health yesterday cancelled the event one day before it was scheduled to begin, citing fears of COVID-19 community transmission in the surrounding area.
The cancellation has bolstered calls for a dedicated pandemic insurance fund to protect music promoters.
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It was billed as Australia s first major music festival in a year, and a long-awaited sign of the touring industry s recovery from pandemic shutdowns.
Premium Content It was meant to be Australia s first major music festival since the pandemic began. The news Bluesfest Byron Bay could not be held this week, delivered on the eve of the first day of music, has likely left a $100 million hole in the local economy. While this year s festival was due to run at half-capacity, director Peter Noble previously said the last event in 2019 put $200 million into the economy. As organisers, music lovers and the array of people who would have worked at Bluesfest come to terms with the news Bluesfest 2021 is, at best, on hold until later in the year, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has expressed enthusiasm that the Sydney Royal Easter Show would proceed this long weekend.
Festivals need insurance
There’s no insurance for communicable diseases or pandemics at the moment. We’ve been told that could be the case for two to three years, based on SARS, which is a significant period of time. You can still get weather and public liability insurance, but if you have to cancel your event due to the pandemic, you can’t cover your sunk costs.
An interruption fund would see promoters actually paying to access a kitty if the pandemic caused a cancellation. So it would be co-contributed – we’re not asking for money without paying for anything, we just want the ability to underwrite these events.