Assessment 1 - Assignment 1 PDF

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Defqon-1 is a popular annual event that is held in Australia, Netherlands, and Chile. It is a hardcore electronic dance music festival that attracts more than one hundred thousand visitors each year. Festival organiser Q Dance established the event in the Netherlands in 2003 and has been hosted in Sydney every September since 2009. It has always been held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith, New South Wales. The theme is uniquely different every year with a vast array of performers, including some of the most well known electronic music producers. Each edition has an official song that is played in conjunction with the festival. The themes are brought to life using massive colorful stages, dancing lights, and lasers. A breathtaking fireworks display is showcased to cap off the event on the final performance. Moreover, the festival is live-streamed on YouTube. It is a very competitive market as there are a large number of music events annually in New South Wales. According to Visit NSW (2018), there were six exciting music festivals throughout the year in 2018. This essay will analyse the position of Defqon-1 Australia held in 2018 in a Social and Legal context. Social Context According to Allen et al. (2010), there is increasing importance on the social impacts of events. In the evaluation of Defqon-1 in a social context, substance abuse and health are key factors that can be critiqued. According to McGowan (2019), two attendees died after overdosing on the illicit drug MDMA. In addition to this, there were only two available, inexperienced and overwhelmed doctors at the thirty thousand people event (McGowan 2019). It can, therefore, be seen that Defqon-1 was unsuccessful in being socially responsible and caring for the health of attendees primarily related to drug overdoses. Firstly, the two deaths caused by the consumption of illegal drugs at the festival may pose a threat. In this case, the related drug deaths generated a large amount of negative publicity. This could affect the brand image of Defqon-1 and result in fewer attendees in future years. Moreover, the New South Wales government was eager to shut down the festival for the future (Kontominas 2018). In addition to this, AAP (2019) stated that Defqon-1 was listed amongst 14 events classified as high risk by the New South Wales Premier. Therefore, if the organisers do not take action, there may be huge losses and unemployment caused to staff. Moreover, as electronic music festivals are trending in Sydney, Defqon-1 may lose its market to other competitors. On the other hand, opportunities may arise for Q Dance to improve its health services for future festivals. McGowan (2019) stated that one of the deaths could have been avoided if better medical facilities were readily available. Moreover, more than seven hundred people required medical help with only two doctors available at the medical tent (Kontominas 2018). Therefore, if more doctors are placed in future years, then such threats to Q Dance may most likely be avoided. In addition to this, there is an opportunity for the organisers to contract a different medical service provider then they did in 2018. McGowan (2019) stated that EMS was hired at the festival to provide medical care, and one of the victims could have avoided death if he had been “transferred to hospital quicker” by EMS staff.

Legal Context The second contextual factor that is presented as a threat to Defqon-1 is in legal relations. Governments are positioned as the regulatory body that oversees the laws and policies used to govern the staging of events (Allen et al. 2010). The New SouthWales government administrates the NSW Police Force, and thus any criminal activity at Defqon-1 is under their jurisdiction. It is mentioned by Thompson (2019) that a large number of police officers and sniffer dogs were deployed by the NSW Police Force at the event. The two deaths at the event were caused by an illegal drug, and therefore this could be classified as a criminal activity. The large number of people requiring medical assistance in relation to drugs and the two overdoses may be a threat to Defqon-1. This is because the organisers could be faced with a considerable fine and could be banned from having future events in the country for their reduced duty of care on attendees. According to McGowin (2019), there was an investigation by the NSW coroners office underway concerning the death of one of the two revellers. This could also generate negative publicity for the music festival, and this may result in fewer people purchasing tickets for future legs. As a result, costs may increase, and thus revenues collected by organiser Q Dance could diminish. The ability to pay the top music producers and have high quality pyrotechnics could be lost, which conflicts with the culture of the hard hitting event. Overall, after analysing the position of Defqon-1 in a social and legal context as well as discussing the potential threats and opportunities caused, a few recommendations could be made for it to remain competitive in the future. This would include methods to help reduce the health risks associated with illicit substances consumed at the festival annually. Firstly, the organisers may consider introducing pill testing. According to Thompson (2019), pill testing is a measure that could potentially reduce harm at such events. This is further supported by another music event in Canberra that trialled pill testing successfully. An excess of two hundred and thirty revellers used the pill testing service at Groovin The Moo festival with people finding the deadly substance N-ethyl Pentylone in a number of MDMA pills, then disposing of them away (Singhal 2019). As a result, the risk of fatal overdoses like which occurred in Defqon-1 was scaled down. In addition to this, measuring the usage of illegal drugs at the event may assist with establishing drug prevention strategies at future events and help the government in investigations. One method of doing this is a wastewater analysis. This is supported by Lai et al. (2009), who suggest the testing of wastewater as a non-invasive method of detecting the use of drugs within a large group of people. It is carried out by collecting samples of wastewater from the treatment plant at the event venue and comparing it with data collected from a close-by urban community using similar methods (Lai et al. 2013). As Defqon-1 is an annual event, the results could also be compared to evaluate if the organisers have made any progress to tackle the life-threatening use of illegal drugs at the festival and therefore whether they need to introduce new measures to do so. Word Count: 1102

Reference List AAP General News Wire 2019, `NSW govt list of high risk music festivals`, AAP, 22 February 2019, viewed 19 April 2020, < https://search-proquestcom.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/docview/2184398994? accountid=17095&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo> Allen, J., O`Toole, W., Harris, R. & McDonnell, I. 2010, `Festival and Special Event Management`, 5th edn,, Wiley, Australia, pp. 32-61. Kontominas, B. 2018, ` Defqon.1: NSW Premier vows to shut down festival after suspected overdose deaths`, ABC News, 17 September 2018, viewed 20 April 2020, Lai, F, Y., Thai, P,K., O'Brien, J., Gartner, C., Bruno, R., Kele, B., Ort, C., Prichard, J., Kirkbride, P., Hall, W., Carter, S. & Mueller, J, F. 2013, `Using quantitative wastewater analysis to measure daily usage of conventional and emerging illicit drugs at an annual music festival`, Drug and Alcohol review, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 594-602. McGowan, M. 2019, ` Defqon.1 festival overdose victim may have survived given better medical care`, The Guardian, 15 July 2019, viewed 15 April 2020,

Singhal, P. 2019, ` Pill testing trial 'successful' at music festival, evaluation finds`, Sydney Morning Herald, December 10 2019, viewed 22 April 2020, <

Thompson, A. 2019, ` Defqon.1 organiser wants pill testing in Australia, inquest hears`, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 July 2019, viewed 22 April 2020,

Visit NSW 2018, Exciting Music Festivals In NSW, NSW Tales, viewed 20 April 2020, < https://www.visitnsw.com/nsw-tales/events/exciting-musicfestivals-in-nsw/>...