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Another Australian music festival has called it quits, with electronic dance music festival Return to Rio announcing its 2024 edition will be cancelled.
Organisers blamed the rising costs of government regulations around music festivals, saying that police and medical costs had risen by "529 per cent" in the last year.
"To cover all these exorbitant extra costs we'd have to add at least $100 per ticket", festival organisers said.
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"Return to Rio has an excellent record as a safe and well-run festival and has operated successfully for over a decade without any major incidents.
"But last year it was decided that our police and medical costs should increase by a whopping 529 per cent."
Organisers said "extra rules and regulations" they needed to comply with had cost the organisation more than $300,000.
"For a small family-run business, this makes it almost impossible not to run at a loss," the organisers said.
"With so many people struggling financially right now, passing these crazy-high fees onto you is not something we're prepared to do.
"The sad reality is that in NSW electronic music is unfairly targeted."
They said they hope to bring the festival back "bigger and better" in 2025.
The festival's axing comes in the wake of multiple high-profile festival cancellations.
This year at least five music festivals have been cancelled, including major festival Splendour in the Grass.
