Long Jetty Festival moves to March 30, 2025

The fifth Long Jetty Festival, which was originally planned for Sunday, October 8 has been rescheduled to March 30 next year.

Organisers had to cancel this year’s event after Central Coast Council refused the development application (DA) that is needed to see the event go ahead.
“Despite successfully hosting this event for years, activating the streets and the community of Long Jetty without incident, our new DA has been declined by the Council, with the backing of Police,” organisers announced on their website, revealing that last year’s DA approval had come through the day before the event.

“We know many of you have questions,” the organisers said.
“We’ve rescheduled to March 30, 2025, giving us the time needed to work on a five-year DA to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

The directors said they were “incredibly disappointed” that the festival wouldn’t be going ahead in October but they had been working tirelessly to address the issues raised and now felt more confident they were moving forward with Council support.  

“We especially thank Member for The Entrance David Mehan and Mitch Wilson CEO of the Australian Festivals Association who arranged a rescue meeting with Council to bring the key stakeholders together on Monday, September 23,” the directors said.

The discussions focused on items that were “misunderstood by Council and Police” but the key issue in getting a review of the DA was the time required.

“A period of 28 days was needed which meant the event could not legally proceed.
“We truly sympathise with the community, especially the vendors, artists, performers, sponsors, workers, and local businesses affected by this,” the directors said.

“We’d like to express our gratitude to our supporters, including Local MPs David Mehan, Liesl Tesch, David Harris, Mitch Wilson (CEO of Festivals Australia), Josh and Lauren from Mushroom Events, Paul Anderson from PM Consultants, Greg Carey (President of Central Coast Music & Arts Committee), NSW Police, Central Coast Council, The Over 50s Club, The Long Jetty Hotel, local businesses, our sponsors, Traffic Plan Professionals, First On Scene Medical, Security Worx, and everyone who has stood by us over the past few days.
“We are committed to bringing the festival back next year and delivering the incredible event this community deserves. We’re not giving up on this.”

See previous story here: https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/09/long-jetty-festival-cancelled/

See the organisers’ full explanation on the festival website: https://longjettyfestival.com.au/sorry-we-tried-see-you-in-2025/