Early this March, music festival organisers whose events landed in New South Wales’ “high-risk festivals” list have announced their plans to sue the NSW government. These events include Days Like This, Lost Paradise, Finely Tuned, Novel, and Division Agency.
Launching a class-action suit, however, takes some serious dough. In pursuit of justice, the organisers have turned to the one thing we can all rely on—and that is the kindness of strangers.
On March 12, the alliance of NSW Music Festivals has set up a crowdfunding page at GoFundMe.com. The page’s goal is to raise $40,000 for the legal expenses that the case will incur.
“The NSW Government have much deeper pockets than ours,” the organisers have stated on the GoFundMe page. “But with your help that does not mean they can bully us with zero transparency or justification and we will collectively fight back.”
The alliance has stated a number of reasons for pushing its lawsuit. First of these reasons is that the criteria used in determining which festivals are high-risk and which are not is flawed. The criteria are also applied inconsistently. Additionally, getting placed in the high-risk list, according to the organisers, have damaged their festivals’ brand and reputation. It also questioned their experience, expertise, and commitment to the safety of their events.
As of this writing, the alliance has raised $20,548 of its $40,000 goal. The crowdfunding endeavour has 207 backers to date.
