Over 20 live music venues and bars across New South Wales will turn its music off at midnight this coming Saturday night in protest of the state government's current policies on live music.
Popular venues such as Oxford Art Factory, Marlborough Hotel, Kings Cross Hotel and Freda's will all take part in the protest, which will coincide with there being 100 days until the NSW election.
“Music venues are vital for any creative city and we think music policy should be in people’s minds come election time,” Oxford Art Factory owner, Mark Gerber, said.
Keep Sydney Open's Tyson Koh added, "There has been a net loss of 175 venues since the lockout laws were introduced, and the recent scapegoating of music festivals has shown the NSW Government is not going to stop until they destroy all the fun in NSW".
Venues protesting this Saturday:
- Marlborough Hotel - Newtown
- Oxford Art Factory - Darlinghurst
- Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross
- The Family Hotel - Newcastle
- DK Pool Club - Bathurst
- Freda’s - Chippendale
- Chingalings - Darlinghurst
- The Narrabeen RSL - North Shore
The announced protest comes just a day after the Labor party promised to "scrap" restrictions against music venues in the city if elected next March.
"The NSW music industry has massive potential but we’ve got a grassroots music venue crisis," Shadow Minister for the Night Time Economy and Music, John Graham, said.
"We’ve lost hundreds of venues, thousands of jobs; musicians, hospital workers out of work. Well, this is a plan to turn that around."
Meanwhile 16 live venues and small businesses across the state have today been announced to receive some much-needed upgrades through council funding.
Comments