The organisers behind Bohemian Beatfreaks, a small-scale three-day music festival on NSW’s north coast, have accused NSW Police of trying to price out their event with a $200,000 quote for a mandatory police presence.
Bohemian Beatfreaks is supposed to kick off this Friday, though the festival’s future was thrown into the air when police withdrew support late October over safety concerns. Rabbits Eat Lettuce, the team behind the festival, are currently contesting those concerns in court, as it would likely mean the festival would be cancelled.
In the interim, the festival’s been quoted with a $200,000 police presence — a pretty significant hike from last year’s $10,000 fee.
The NSW Police believe the festival poses “extreme” risks to punters, due to accessibility issues for emergency services, poor telecommunication reception, and a lack of fencing separating the private land from bushfire-prone scrubland. They also say that previous years have featured large-scale drug use and excessive drinking, which Lamir-Price rejects, supplying photos to News Corp of police at last year’s festival lounging and socialising out of “boredom”.
The court case continues today. Bohemian Beatfreaks has set up a Go Fund Me to assist with legal funds, asking “the dance community to chip in and help us push back against the oppressive actions by NSW Police which threaten the fabric of our society and ability to celebrate and gather at music, art & lifestyle festivals.”
