Can Bohemian Beatfreaks beat the ban?

Rabbits Eat Lettuce, the promoters of the Bohemian Beatfreaks festival near Byron Bay believe they can win their bid in the Land & Environment Court.

NSW Police have refused permission for the November 23 to 26 event to go ahead, concerning security risks.

The issue went to court last Friday, where the two deaths at the Defqon.1 in Penrith came up a number of times, according to co-promoter Erik Lamir-Pike.

Rabbits Eat Lettuce posted on Facebook on Friday: “Proceedings went well today and we are confident in our position.

“We expect the court to uphold justice on Monday (today) and allow the event to proceed as planned.”

It added, “In the unlikely event the L&E court decision is unfavourable plans are in place to move the event to a permitted venue.”

The festival is scheduled to be held 50 kilometres south-west of Casino on a 3,000-acre private property.

The first three rounds of tickets have sold out, with the final round at $269 each.

Rabbits Eat Lettuce struck a five year deal with Richmond Valley Council in 2015 to host two camping festivals a year.

But it was on the proviso there were no police concerns.

In this case, police stated concerns over severely restricted vehicle access in the event of an emergency, poor communication infrastructure, a lack of perimeter fencing and the area’s bushfire-prone location.

Drug use was detected at previous events, police said.

Lamir-Pike told Fairfax Media police had “not done their homework” in regards to the concerns.

He added. “Our festival is a three-day camping festival, it’s one-tenth of the size and very different to the Defqon.1 event in Sydney.

“People come to [events like ours] to form a community for the weekend. They all support each other – they’re connecting and they have a good time.”

Aside from bands. Bohemian Beatfreaks also has yoga classes, massage sessions, circus play, theatres, a market village and late night cinema.