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PSYFARI cancel 10th anniversary event facing NSW Government’s “war on festivals”

Blue Mountains festival PSYFARI have cancelled their upcoming 2019 event due to the NSW Government’s “war on festivals”. As the debate around pill testing in NSW festivals rages on, the increasing strictness of the government’s crackdown has claimed another victim.

2019’s festival would have been the 10th anniversary for PSYFARI, and was planned to be their grand finale. However, in a statement posted to their Facebook page, organisers announced that the event has been cancelled.

psyfari 2019 cancelled nsw government
Image: Psyfari on Facebook

Longstanding NSW festival PSYFARI has had to cancel their 2019 event, their 10th anniversary and grand finale, due to the government’s crackdown on festival drug use.

In the statement, the organisers said they had fully intended on going ahead with the event:

“…current political climate surrounding festivals in NSW [making] this something harder than ever before, and it really seems like a recipe for disaster”.

“As such, we feel the best choice is to pull the pin before further time and resources are put in to fight this David & Goliath battle.”

“We’re truly sad to have to cancel, we had exciting things planned… But these sites are in NSW, where the war on festivals has reached an all time high.”

This is just another case of the NSW Government’s insistence on maintaining a no tolerance stance on drugs and pill testing within festivals. In their attempt to reduce drug related deaths, they have turned to over regulation and increased police presence, which unfortunately is forcing smaller events out of the ring.

Check out the full post from Psyfari below: