“Having spent a decade in Tocumal, we had never seen these things before [river] “The Heights continues,” the organizers of Strawberry Fields wrote on their website, announcing the cancellation on September 27. “Critical access and recreation areas are currently meters underwater, and expert advice suggests the situation could get worse from here.”
That same week, authorities issued warnings to communities along the Murray River, and the Australian Insurance Board asked residents to prepare properties for the third year of La Nina floods. Since the cancellation, the water level has risen another 1.5 metres.
Festival-goers enjoy a swim in the Murray River at Strawberry Fields 2017.attributed to him:Duncographic
Ticket holders can get a full refund minus handling costs, or renew their ticket until 2023, when the event takes place in November to avoid the rainy season.
While bad weather may be an integral part of the Australian festival experience, some organizers can’t risk a repeat of this year’s muddy Splendor in the Grass, when heavy rains wreaked havoc for organizers, performers, and goers. Some festival-goers queued for 15 hours and had to sleep in their cars all night. Beau’s campground videos went viral – and the event had to be canceled on day one.
Strawberry Fields pays the cancellation cost out of pocket. They were not offered insurance coverage in time, although talks with insurance brokers began in July, much earlier than usual. Penny said regulators usually start dealing with insurance companies six to eight weeks before the show.
“By the time there was 100 percent backing from the insurers required to provide us with an insurance policy in early September, the place was already under a slight flood — making us ineligible to accept that coverage,” Benny said. “We are not protected in the same way we were in the past.”
Splendor in the Grass canceled its first day after floods saturated the camp grounds.attributed to him:nine
Insurance problems are not unique to the live music industry. A public review of the insurance sector at KPMG identified the risks in April, noting that the sector was concerned that the “frequency and severity” of weather events would cause premiums to rise significantly, and even render some areas uninsurable.
Central to the reluctance to offer coverage from insurance companies is the problem of high premiums, the amount of money an individual or company might pay for an insurance policy. According to the Australian Insurance Regulatory Authority, total public and private premiums rose by 7.5 per cent between 2019 and 2020.
While Strawberry Fields said the issue for them was not about the cost of insurance, it was partly due to the festival’s cancellation of October and November dates in New South Wales and Queensland. In a statement announcing a full refund to ticket holders, the event said the cancellation was due to “a combination of issues… including inflated insurance premiums and infrastructure costs, and forecasting severe weather patterns.”
A spokesperson for the Australian Insurance Council said the market for general liability insurance, which covers live music events (among other industries such as pubs and theme parks) has tightened over the past two years.
“There is no one silver bullet to fix these problems, and solutions, where they exist, require a concerted effort between insurers, businesses and the government,” they said.
Select Music CEO Stephen Wade says the live music industry is stuck between a rock and a hard place because putting on a good show is getting more dangerous than ever. attributed to him:Rhett and Faith
Select Music CEO Stephen Wade, who is also president of the Australian Live Music Business Council, echoes that sentiment. As an agent for some of Australia’s biggest music names, Wade is responsible for handling live bookings for artists including Lime Cordiale, Rufus Du Sol and Baker Boy.
“It is a unique time for us that these weather patterns are constantly continuing to wreak havoc on our industry,” Wade said. “There are events with 30,000 people in attendance, and the people promoting these shows are literally in the lap of the gods before the shows, hoping they’re not completely affected by the weather.”
Wade says the industry is caught between a rock and a hard place: the pressure on regulators to shoulder the burden of weather-related cancellation has become too high.
But the alternative might see the organizers including weather cancellations in the force majeure clause of the event (the clause that exempts both parties from any contractual liability). While mitigating the risk to event organizers, responsibility will pass to the artist for obtaining insurance to cover themselves in the event of cancellation.
“Insurance has become a very, very big issue for our industry,” he says.
“The people promoting these shows are literally in the lap of the gods leading up to the shows, hoping they won’t be completely affected by the weather.”
Stephen Wade, CEO of Select Music
There have been government initiatives to support the industry after the shutdown devastated it. Last month, the federal government announced the Direct Performance Support Fund, which is designed to provide coverage between November and January 2023 for events affected by national isolation requirements after testing positive for COVID. But given that the National Cabinet scrapped mandatory isolation rules last month, the fund may have come a little late. The Greens are now asking the federal government to extend this coverage to weather canceled events.
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“Even before COVID, we saw festivals canceled due to wildfires, and more recently due to floods. When the pandemic is over, the climate crisis will still be there,” said Sarah Hanson-Young, a Greens senator.
Wade says a concerted effort from brokers, industry and government agencies is needed “to point us in the right direction”.
An arts ministry spokesperson said the decision to end periods of isolation means events can continue with confidence without having to access pandemic coverage, but added: “The government will continue to support the arts, entertainment and culture sector, and will announce the way forward with its landmark national cultural policy by the end of This year “.
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Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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