End of Laneway Sydney “a possibility”, warns promoter Danny Rogers

Laneway promoter Danny Rogers has come out fighting after his event was listed among the 14 “high-risk festivals” that would come under the NSW government’s strict guidelines from March 1.

Rogers told triple j’s current affairs program Hack that the end Laneway’s Sydney leg was a real possibility, calling his events inclusion on the list “preposterous” with a “poorly defined criteria”.

Rogers protested that Laneway’s medical record was better than several festivals that didn’t make it on the list.

“In the past 14 years in Sydney we’ve only had two transports from the festival with over 300,000 people attending the event [in that time],” he said.

“When you put it into context it seems kind of strange and baffling.”

When quizzed if being on the list could stop Laneway from being staged in Sydney, Rogers responded, “Absolutely, it’s definitely a possibility…

“Imagine Laneway Sydney doesn’t happen?”

As reported in TMN over the weekend, the NSW live sector was infuriated when the list was texted by the government to promoters, with some getting phone calls.

Promoters had already been concerned that they had not been informed a week ahead of the March 1 deadline what the rules were based on.

Rogers was one of those who was advised by SMS.

He told Hack: “We haven’t been told ‘this is the matrix we’ve been working from or these are the reasons why’… we don’t really know, this is the crazy and frightening thing.”