Though Farmer and the Owl festival in Wollongong is less than a week away, organisers say they are worried a confusing new licencing regime and last-minute police bills could sink the event.

The festival - headlined by Beach House and Hockey Dad on March 2 - is one of the first to fall under NSW's tough new festival regulations.

It kicks off just a day after the new rules come into play.

Festival organiser Ben Tillman told Hack he is still unsure what requirements need to be met as they do not yet have have a licence with conditions.

"We don't know how we're going to be affected because we don't have a licence with conditions back yet so we're up in the air if this will still go ahead," he said.

All the horror stories with other festivals [are of] being hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in police bills so [there's] uncertainty.

'There have been no clear guidelines'

At least four festivals of a similar size have had to cancel or downsize in the past few months, saying they've been hit with last-minute skyrocketing bills for extra police and medical personnel.

Thousands of people joined the country's top musicians and festival operators in Sydney's Hyde Park on Thursday night to condemn the new festival laws.

Speakers at the rally said a new regime where festivals must meet a checklist of requirements before being approved will lead to last-minute costs that will force events to cancel.

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Whatsapp The Don't Kill Live Music rally in Hyde Park on Thursday.

The rally's organisers also said the licensing regime is due to come into action on March 1, but there's still no detail from the NSW Government on how it will work.

"There's been no transparency and clear guidelines of what is what in terms of how many police or medical personnel we'll need," Ben said.

There's been no consultation from the industry when coming up with these regulations and it seems to be discretionary, there's no clear guideline or model.

The rally organisers called for the commencement date for the new licence to be pushed back so there can be more consultation with industry.

However, the NSW Government has said the regime will come into force as planned.

Racing Minister Paul Toole said in a statement on Thursday that "low risk" festivals won't need to get a licence.

Festivals deemed high risk will have to pay $650 for a licence and will have safety requirements determined by a panel including NSW Health and Police.

"Music festivals that have had no safety issues in the past should have no trouble operating under the new scheme, which will help make all music festivals safer," he said.

"Additionally, under the new scheme, festival operators will be provided with extra support and guidance from NSW Health and NSW Police to ensure costs on industry are minimised and the safety of festival goers is maximised."