Complete the notification form
You must submit an early notification form at least 120 days prior to a music festival.
Contact us
Need help or want to ask a question about music festivals? We are here to help you.
Planning your festival
Together let’s create a great experience!
Music festivals are a much-loved part of our community. Music lovers coming together to enjoy a shared experience.
A good festival has many elements that create the whole experience. These can include food and drink stalls, location and venue, transport availability, volunteers, security, disability access, and amenities. All must be kept within budget with well-planned communications.
We can help you plan a great event, so before you start read the event starter guide.
Don't forget the approvals
In all the excitement of planning a festival, don't forget there's a range of local and state government authorities you need to speak to.
You must submit an early notification form to tell the NSW Government you're planning a festival at 120 days prior to the festival start date.
By using this form, you get the help you need and there's no last-minute rush on paperwork - so you can focus on putting on the best festival possible.
Contact the local council at your festival location
Certain music festivals will require approval from your local consent authority (local council) before they can be held.
Council approval times vary, so be sure to contact them at least 12 months out.
Councils also have different application processes, these can include a development application (DA), event application, emergency management plan, food safety, traffic, noise and environmental management.
The Office of Local Government can help you contact the local council.
Contact Liquor & Gaming NSW
L&GNSW decides if your event requires an agreed Health and Medical Plan (HMP). To start the process, fill in the music festival early notification form at least 120 days before your festival is due to start. L&GNSW will use the information you provide in the form, along with other information from other stakeholders, to determine if you need an agreed HMP.
There is more information about the HMP below. If you have any further questions on the process before you are directed whether you need to have an agreed HMP, you can email the music festivals team.
NSW Health and NSW Ambulance
If L&GNSW notifies you that your festival requires an agreed HMP, you will be required to consult NSW Health on preparing your HMP.
If your music festival requires an agreed HMP, you will be provided information from L&GNSW on who to contact in NSW Health regarding your plan. You can also visit the NSW Health webpage for more information. Note, the information on the NSW Health webpage is currently in the process of being updated.
If your music festival doesn’t require an agreed HMP, from 1 March 2025, you will still need to prepare a HMP as part of your planning process. However, there will be no requirement for you to formally consult NSW Health on your plan.
Learn what health services and resourcing you will need at your festival with the NSW Health Guidelines for Music Festival Organisers.
You can contact the NSW Health music festivals team if you need advice on how to make your music festival safer, email NSW Health.
To find contact details for NSW Ambulance and the Local Health District where your event will be held, visit the NSW Health website.
Contact NSW Police
NSW Police will be able to work with you to keep your festival attendees safe and secure. NSW Police may ask you to enter into a user pays agreement with them. If you enter into an agreement with NSW Police for user pays police, you will not pay for drug detection dog activities unless you have expressly requested this service from NSW Police.
Visit local police districts to find the contact details of your local police district for your festival.
Security incident register
If security will be at your festival, the security licensee will need to keep a security incident register. Security activities include:
- acting as a bodyguard
- crowd controller, and
- patrolling, protecting, or guarding property.
Learn how to do a security incident register.
Law enforcement and safety schedule
If you are required to have an agreed HMP, NSW Police may request that L&GNSW direct you to prepare a law enforcement and safety schedule. NSW Police may request conditions as part of a law enforcement and safety schedule. L&GNSW will advise you if this is the case.
Contact SafeWork NSW
SafeWork NSW will help you meet your workplace health and safety requirements.
Learn how to manage the health and safety of workers, volunteers and the public by reading:
Visit SafeWork NSW for more information.
Contact Fire and Rescue NSW
Contact Fire and Rescue NSW to confirm what support is required during your music festival and what safety precautions should be in place before your music festival starts for emergency and incident planning.
Visit NSW Rural Fire Service to contact the Area Command of your festival.
Stakeholder briefings
You will need to hold stakeholder briefings before, during, and after your festival.
This will ensure all stakeholders involved in running your festival understand their role and your plans to manage the risks at your festival.
When planning your festival, your briefings will cover topics that may not be relevant to all stakeholders. You must ensure each stakeholder is briefed in relation to their role.
Depending on the topic to be covered at a briefing, you may invite all stakeholders or a select group of stakeholders.
These stakeholders may include venue operators, performers, security providers, caterers, and others.
Remember to keep detailed attendance and minutes of all stakeholder briefings that you organise.
Briefings with health stakeholders
It is important for event organisers, onsite medical providers, NSW Ambulance, other relevant NSW Health stakeholders and peer-based harm reduction services to have a shared understanding of how they’ll work together at the event.
The recommended timings for health-focused briefings before, during and after events are set out in the NSW Health Guidelines.
Not all music festivals need a HMP agreed with NSW Health.
How to complete a health and medical plan
- If you have been advised by L&GNSW that you require an agreed HMP, L&GNSW will provide information on who to contact in NSW Health to prepare your plan, and the template for your plan.
- If you do not require an agreed HMP, from 1 March 2025, you still need to have a HMP in place for your festival. Further information on the HMP requirements for these festivals will be provided closer to the 1 March 2025 date.
- Read the Guidelines for Music Festival Event Organisers, this will help you know what to put in your HMP.
- When filling out your HMP, speak to NSW Health and NSW Ambulance. They will be able to provide feedback.
60 days before your event start date - submit your HMP
Once completed, email your HMP to NSW Health at least 60 days before the event start date.
Submit HMP to the music festival team
After you submit your HMP
NSW Health will review your HMP and contact you by email if any changes are needed.
If updates are made to your HMP after submission, email those updates to NSW Health. It is quite common for festival organisers to need to submit amended plans. It is in your interest to submit plans and amendments early so agreement can be reached with NSW Health in time for your event to proceed.
Law Enforcement and Safety Schedule
If you are required to have an agreed HMP, you may be required to prepare a law enforcement and safety schedule, if determined by L&GNSW after a request by NSW Police. L&GNSW will advise you if this is the case.
If you are required to submit a law enforcement and safety schedule, L&GNSW will notify you and advise you of the next steps.
If you have any questions, you can email the music festivals team.