Sixty seconds. That’s how long it took for tickets to Strawberry Fields Festival to sell out.
Following two years of delay, organisers adopted a ‘two-weekend’ format to accommodate COVID capacity limits.
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With one weekend of music and art under the belt, the second will be hosted in Tocumwal this weekend.
A crowd of 6000 attended the festival on both Saturday and Sunday.
Aside from the obvious cultural and entertainment benefits, the return of Strawberry Fields is a welcome cash injection into the Berrigan Shire and greater border region economies.
Considering regional length of stay, visitor origin and expenditure patterns, the gross annual stimulus to the Berrigan Shire and greater border region economies associated with the total attendance numbers at Strawberry Fields 2019 was estimated by organisers at $1.5 million and $3.2 million, respectively.
Festival organisers have also committed to the return of its Community Grants Fund, which will see the festival contribute a minimum of $35,000 into local charities
Since its inception in 2015, The Community Grants Fund has donated over $100,000 to local community organisations.
Previous recipients have included the Berrigan Football Club, Tocumwal Public School, Biralee Pre School, Country Women's Association, Tocumwal Foreshore Committee and Tocumwal Golf Club.
The only thing that has soured the sweet taste of success, however, has been the corresponding police operation.
While the town was inundated with music and art lovers excited for the return of the event, it was also crawling with police targeting drug possession and drug and alcohol impaired driving offences.
Police statistics do show a decline in drug detections from previous years, however.
Based on police data available at the time of going to print yesterday, 21 were charged during week one of the operation.
Of those, 18 were charged with possession of prohibited drugs, while another was fined for actions relating to prohibited drugs.
In 2019, at least 95 were charged.
‘‘Over the two days of the operation there was a high visibility police presence,’’ Murray River Police District Detective Chief Inspector Mick Stoltenberg said.
Fifteen uniformed officers and a police drug dog patrolled the event, alongside the 30 security guards arranged by organisers.
A drug bus and highway patrol contingent also rendered assistance surveilling incoming and outgoing traffic, and Victorian Police were running a similar operation on their side of the border.
Det Chief Insp Stoltenberg said while week one has seen fewer drug related arrests or charges than previous years, police will have begun preparing a similar response ahead of the festival’s second showing this weekend.
‘‘A number of people have found themselves with prohibited drug charges,’’ Det Chief Ins Stoltenberg said.
‘‘An array of drugs were seized, including methamphetamine, ecstasy, cannabis, and others.
‘‘What it comes down to is this; if people want to run the risk of carrying restricted substances, especially to music festivals, they should know there is zero-tolerance towards that behaviour.
Following the event, the drivers of at least two vehicles were found subject to drug-related charges.
At 11.40am on Monday, March 28 police stopped a car at Tuppal Rd, Tocumwal for the purposes of random drug and alcohol testing.
The driver, a 30 year-old Victorian man, had been issued with a notice by police the previous day, which prohibited him from driving a vehicle for 24 hours.
He was arrested and charged for refusing to provide oral fluid samples, refusing to comply with prohibition or requirements, and driving with an illicit drug present.
A second driver faced similar charges, after being stopped leaving the festival at 9pm the previous day.
The 29 year-old NSW man was charged for refusing to provide oral fluid samples, refusing to comply with prohibition or requirements, and driving with an illicit drug present.
Police also discovered, and seized, a small amount of cannabis found present in the vehicle.
‘‘Round two this weekend will see another strong police presence at the event,’’ Det Chief Insp Stoltenberg said.
‘‘We urge people not to run the risk of putting their own, or others, lives in danger.
‘‘And for those who are attending, we hope they enjoy the event in safety.’’
Berrigan Shire Mayor Matt Hannan said while the event is often overshadowed by the police operation, he said the aim has always been to run a safe and law abiding event.
‘We have always said we want it to be the safest and best event, and we (council) hold Strawberry Fields to account on that.
‘‘There are still some people in the community opposed to the event (partly because of the results of police operations) but Strawberry Fields has done a lot of work in trying to educate the community about who they are, and that is a credit to them.
‘‘This is the biggest event in the shire and there are some great economic benefits.
‘‘Tocumwal and the wider shires will get the flow on effects.
Event co-director Billy Staughton echoed Mr Hannan’s sentiments, saying organisers were generally ‘‘incredibly happy’’ with the behaviour of patrons this weekend.
‘‘They should be applauded and thanked,’’ he said.
‘‘The cycle of safety planning spans pre-event, on site and post-event for continuous improvement.
‘‘We engage professional consultants in the fields of emergency management, lifeguarding, medical and security to develop our operational plans and also work directly with their counterparts in New South Wales Police, New South Wales Health and Roads & Maritime throughout the year to ensure the highest standards are implemented.
‘‘Safety includes everything from the hours of operation, to the communications protocols in place, to the availability of amenities (water, shade, chill spaces, educational opportunities) and so much more.
‘‘It is as multi-layered, robust and complicated as what any Australian city of 10,000 does to ensure the safety of it’s citizens.’’
Those safety processes were on full display when members of council and the broarder community were invited to the festival grounds on Friday for an ‘opening ceremony’.
For councillor and long-term Tocumwal resident Ted Hatty, it was a chance to see how the organisers put on a ‘‘great event’’.
‘‘We’re all getting a little over COVID I suspect, so it’s good to see events such as this and the Tocumwal Airshow go ahead,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve helped out at the event at community barbecues and such in the past and its clear organisers are always doing their best to put on a good show.’’
Another two days of music and art will be hosted this Saturday and Sunday.
And the message from Mr Staughton ahead of the weekend.
‘‘We just want to reiterate to everyone attending to be smart, be safe, think before you act. We can’t wait to welcome you to Strawberry for weekend two.’’
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