WISEMAN’s FERRY, NSW (CelebrityAccess) — Australia’s Return To Rio has joined the growing ranks of canceled music events after organizers announced that the festival will not be taking place as planned in 2024.
Return To Rio’s organizers shared the news of the cancellation via social media, citing new licensing requirements for EDM events that have driven up costs and made the festival too expensive to stage.
“Since the introduction of the NSW Festival Act in 2019, almost every electronic music festival in NSW has been deemed ‘subject’ (or ‘high risk’). This means that NSW Police and Health have full control over how much a festival pays for policing and medical, as well as any other extra costs they deem necessary for harm minimisation (e.g. riot squads, police boats, interrogation areas, strip search facilities, CCTV…the list goes on).
“Return to Rio has an excellent record as a safe and well-run festival and has operated successfully for over a decade without any major incidents. But last year it was decided that our police and medical costs should increase by a whopping 529%. This, combined with the extra rules and regulations we have to adhere to, meant last year we incurred more than $300K in extra costs. For a small family-run business, this makes it almost impossible not to run at a loss.”
“NSW Police is charging what’s reported as twelve times more than in VIC. And just to cover all these exorbitant extra costs we’d have to add at least $100 per ticket. With so many people struggling financially right now, passing these crazy-high fees onto you is not something we’re prepared to do. The sad reality is that in NSW electronic music is unfairly targeted. And if this continues, we’ll only be left with beige government-run events and commercial mega-corp festivals, while the smaller diverse and boutique events die out. “
Organizers went on to state that they hope to revive the festival in some form in 2025.
Past editions of the festival have featured lineups that included both Australian and international EDM artists, including Nick Warren, Mark Farina, De La Soul and Sneaky Sound System.
