5 days ago
Coastal Twist Fair Day at risk of cancelling as DA rejected due to NRL Grand Final clash
Organisers of the Central Coast's biggest diversity and inclusion festival say they are "devastated" after being told the event cannot go ahead this year because it clashes with a sporting event being held almost 80 kilometres away in Sydney.
Coastal Twist Fair Day is a family-friendly LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival that is held annually at Umina, featuring live music, cabaret, and drag story time.
The event started in 2019 and has always been held on the October long weekend.
But the Central Coast Council has knocked back the development application (DA) to hold the festival this year as it coincides with the NRL Grand Final being hosted at Sydney Olympic Park.
Not being an NRL follower himself, festival producer Juan Iocco said he initially thought the council was referring to a local sporting event.
"I think we asked [the council] about seven times over a period of almost two months for clarification," Mr Iocco said.
The council said the proposed location of the event, Umina Beach, would already be at capacity due to the NRL Grand Final and long weekend visitors, and the festival would result in "unacceptable traffic and parking impacts".
Mr Iocco is seeking a report into potential traffic and pedestrian impacts in the area at a cost of $30,000 in an effort to have the DA rejection overturned.
But with less than eight weeks until the event was due to go ahead, he was worried it might not come in time.
"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," he said.
Glitta Supernova is the festival's creative director and said the event was initially launched because there was nothing else like it on the Central Coast.
Creating a safe space for diversity in a public area was a big driver.
"We've been offered [by council] all these little backyard places to hold the festival, apart from the one we want to do it in," Ms Supernova said.
"We could easily do it and tuck ourselves away, and that visibility piece wouldn't be happening in our community because we're all tucked away … no-one sees it and no-one is part of it.
Ms Supernova said she was surprised by the decision because she thought the NSW government was taking steps to make it easier for events like festivals to go ahead.
Kristy Cartan has attended the festival every year and said the community would be heartbroken if it could not go ahead.
"And I'm not just talking about the queer community. I'm talking about the whole community on the Central Coast," Ms Cartan said.
"I had my 85-year-old neighbour there and my eight-year-old at the time, dancing together … it's just a beautiful expressive space."
Ms Cartan said it was important that the queer community had a space where they felt safe and accepted.
"It brings hope, it brings life, it brings community together … it brings the opportunity to be seen for who you are … for self-expression in its most radical and beautiful form."
In a statement, Central Coast Council said the extra criteria the festival needed to meet this year, including addressing concerns about traffic and pedestrians, as well as a bushfire risk assessment, were due to new planning guidelines from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
"Council is keen for the event to proceed and is very supportive of it, having provided funding for it," it said.
