The music festival industry is being deliberately killed off by overzealous police and there will soon be no events left, a festival organiser has warned.
Organisers of the Psyfari festival, which attracts 5,000 to the Blue Mountains every September, announced they were cancelling the event due to a government crackdown imposing 'excessive rules.'
They said that 'bans on bring your own alcohol and overly heavy police presences [leading to] increased costs' forced them to scrap this year's event.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the chief organiser issued a stark warning that if the government continues to crack down, festivals will be no more.
One of Australia's biggest country arts and music festivals has pulled the plug in its tenth year as organisers say the 'war on festivals has reached an all time high'. Pictured: Two revellers at Psyfari 2018
In what would have been its tenth year, Psyfari has decided to cancel the 5,000 person festival. Pictured: Two revellers at Psyfari 2018
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday, the chief organiser of Psyfari issued a stark warning that if the government continues to crack down, festivals will be no more. Pictured: Police presence in Sydney
'As conditions become too strict and event costs become too high, it's inevitable that more events will have to cancel or relocate,' said the organiser, who asked not to be named.
He said that festivals will collapse as punters simply 'fly overseas to enjoy them in freedom.'
In November, the Bohemian Beatfreaks festival in north New South Wales was almost cancelled after police demanded a $200,000 fee for policing just days before the event - an astonishing 1,900 per cent increase from a $10,000 bill the year before.
Police demanded the festival pay for extensive perimeter fencing and 70 officers to be present amid 'safety concerns' after 'large-scale drug use' at the 2017 event which organisers denied.
Bosses said the New South Wales Government was deliberately trying to force them under, and, faced with bankruptcy due to the police bill, decided to move three hours over the border to Queensland where the show went on.
Greens MP David Shoebridge said: 'The NSW police are trying to kill off the music festival industry by over-policing and overcharging.'
'To put blame onto festival organisers is an extreme measure,' Psyfari organisers wrote (pictured: a reveller at Psyfari)
Psyfari organisers blame excessive rules, bans on BYO alcohol, overly heavy police presence and a general lack of freedom on their cancellation (pictured: Psyfari festival)
The organiser of Psyfari said he feared he would also be slapped with such extortionate last-minute demands and this is why he cancelled.
'From experience we know that added measures will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to an event's budget, a big hurdle for community-focused events that don't rely on alcohol sales or sponsorship to boost their income,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'Every NSW festival promoter we have talked to in recent times, particularly in the past three to six months, has been given the same treatment, and for us to expect any different is daydreaming.
'Only a fool would walk into an ambush.'
He added: 'New regulations will definitely have a disastrous impact on the festival industry in NSW, especially for smaller events.'
He said the tightening of regulations is also extremely discouraging to anyone thinking of launching a new festival.
'Without new events, the entertainment industry will be continue to feel the impact of this for years to come,' he said.
A spokesman for the New South Wales government told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Government is committed to ensuring festivals in NSW are run as safely as possible.
'A new music festival licence will commence from 1 March.
'Fees for the new licensing regime will in most cases amount to less than one dollar per ticket.
'This is a small price to pay to give families peace of mind that festivals are being run more safely.'
The organisers continue to say the government has pushed the state's entertainment industry to collapse, with bars and clubs alongside festivals (pictured: Psyfari festival)
The cancellation comes as six people have died in just four months at festivals due to fatal drug overdoses (pictured: revellers at Psyfari)
The cancellation of Psyfari came after six people have died in just four months at festivals due to suspected drug overdoses.
The most recent drug overdose at a festival took the life of 19-year-old Alex Ross-King who attended FOMO music festival on January 12.
Just weeks before, university student Callum Edwards, 20, fell critically ill at Beyond the Valley music festival in Lardner, Victoria on December 29.
He was flown to hospital where he died of a suspected drug overdose three
