‘Sydney Can’t Afford to Lose Any More of its Live Music Events’: Local Mayor Issues ‘Call Out’ After Parks Ban

Music events and festivals that will be impacted by a new ban have already been given a lifeline.

Earlier this week, the City of Sydney announced that some public parks throughout the city will no longer be able to host events, including music festivals, as “extreme weather before and during some events has contributed to severe damage in some of our parks which meant areas were unavailable for several months as we undertook remediation.”

The City of Sydney currently manages local parks such as Hyde Park, Sydney Park in Alexandria, and Pirrama Park in Pyrmont.

In response, the Inner West Council has sent an SOS to any displaced event promoters and organisers.

“We’re issuing a call out to all festival promoters and organisers that our door is open if they wish to bring their events to our parks and venues,” Mayor Darcy Byrne said in a statement given to The Music Network.

“Sydney can’t afford to lose any more of its live music events and we disagree with the City of Sydney about the use of parks for these cultural activities.

“Where large-scale events impact on the turf in parks, a simple condition requiring the organisers to fund the remediation costs is the answer to that problem. Banning the use of parks and cancelling events is a retrograde step.

“We have a range of iconic venues and parks, including Enmore Park, Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Leichhardt Oval, and Henson Park, that we are open to using for live performances and festivals.

“We urge anyone in the music industry who wants to hold events in Sydney to contact us directly to explore all options for hosting them in the People’s Republic of the Inner West.”

It’s understood large outdoor spaces like Centennial Park and The Domain which host some of Australia’s major music festivals like Good Things, Laneway, Listen Out, Knotfest and Field Day will not be impacted by the changes as they are managed by state government.

While The Music Network has contacted the NSW state government for comment, the City of Sydney did not respond to questions about which specific events will be impacted by the ban.