Mountain Sounds festival was cancelled because blundering bosses breached safety regulations and feared they would not make enough money, police have claimed.
The festival at the Mount Penang Parklands in New South Wales' Central Coast was set to go ahead this weekend before organisers cancelled it last Saturday.
After Pysfari festival was cancelled in the same week citing overly strict safety regulations, Mountain Sounds bosses blamed a 'government war on festivals'.
But police have hit back saying organisers were shambolic and there were gaping holes in their plans, especially regarding safety.
Police told Daily Mail Australia they are not to blame for the cancellation and that organisers chose to scrap the event because it was not profitable.
Mountain Sounds festival was cancelled with organisers claiming the government's 'war on festivals' is to blame. Pictured: The festival in 2018
Festivals in the Central Coast have to submit a Development Application to the council to get permission to go ahead.
But Mountain Sounds organisers, Architects of Entertainment, only did this on February 5, less than two weeks before the start of the event.
The application states they had to notify police and Roads and Maritime Services 90 days before the event.
Police tried to work with the organisers months before the festival but were ignored, reported the Express Advocate.
Eventually, festival organisers met police in early January, just six weeks before the event.
They had not completed plans or supplied key information required such as the number of attendees, police said.
Later that month, organisers met with police again and apparently said the festival was unlikely to go ahead.
The festival at the Mount Penang Parklands in New South Wales' Central Coast was due this weekend before organisers cancelled it last Saturday. Pictured: The festival in 2018. There is no suggestion anyone pictured used drugs
A representative said that tickets were 'tracking at 5,5000 maximum' - far fewer than last year's 16,000, according to minutes from the meeting.
Later that week, organisers reportedly contacted police and said the festival would go ahead with 8,000 attendees - more than the 'few thousand' initially stipulated.
Police met with organisers but found gaping holes in their plans that breached standard regulations.
The Traffic Management Plan, Emergency Response Plan and plans on how to manage drunk attendees were still outstanding just a month before the event.
Police said there were also inadequate medical resources.
A week later, organisers cancelled the event, saying, 'this is yet another example of the government's war on festivals.'
But police have now insisted they were not to blame for the cancellation.
Mountain Sounds was the second NSW festival to be cancelled last week. Pictured: The festival in 2018
New South Wales Police said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia: 'NSW police work closely with all event organisers to ensure public safety.
'In this instance, the information initially provided to police did not accurately reflect the number of expected attendees and revealed numerous breaches.
'The event organisers made a decision to cancel the festival based on financial reasons associated with the event. At no time did police or government direct the organisers to cancel the event.'
A festival spokeswoman said organisers met with police or other stakeholders first on July 12 and then four times since December. She claimed they never said the event was financially unviable.
Regarding the Development Application, a festival spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia: 'The DA has existed since 2001 and belongs to the venue, not the event.
'There were amendments to operational times that were requested by the event on 5 February, but the DA was always in place.'
