Aussie Festivals On The Move

Two of Australia’s biggest music festivals are on the move.

The East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Byron Bay will next Easter move to nearby Belongil Fields. The larger space will allow an extra stage and a seated, covered food court. The move is for 2008 only, as the festival has already bought another site.

And this year’s Splendour In The Grass played its last on Belongil Fields, its home for six years. It filed a development application to move to its new site in Yelgun, which can hold 22,500, as opposed to the 17,500 capacity of its former home.

But the festival faces resistance in getting approval for its new site with nearby residents expressing concern about the festival’s impact on wildlife and about the behavior of festivalgoers.