A major LGBTQIA+ festival in the New South Wales Central Coast may not go ahead this year, due to a scheduling overlap with the NRL grand final in Sydney.
The Coastal Twist Fair Day is held in Umina, but the Central Coast Council has put a stop to this year’s festival, citing “unacceptable traffic and parking impacts”.
The LGBTQIA+ festival has been run since 2019, and organisers have told media they are devastated by the decision.
“I think we asked… about seven times over a period of almost two months for clarification,” producer Juan Iocco told the ABC.
“Trying to keep our headliners and our main artists when we really don’t know if we are going ahead with it or not is really quite stressful.”
Central Coast Council has released a statement on the decision, saying the festival was expected to meet new criteria in line with planning guidelines from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
In the statement, the Council said it was “very supportive” of the festival and “keen for the event to proceed”.
