Music festival organisers say they are still "bewildered" by the New South Wales Government's new licensing scheme, which comes into effect in two days.

Key points: The NSW Government's new licensing scheme for music festivals comes into effect Friday

The NSW Government's new licensing scheme for music festivals comes into effect Friday Festival organisers say they still only have a draft of the new regulations

Festival organisers say they still only have a draft of the new regulations Fourteen 'high-risk' festivals will have to meet new safety requirements

Fourteen festivals found to be "high risk" by the State Government's panel of experts will be forced to apply for a new licence through the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority come March 1.

Festivals take months, sometimes years, to plan and the first of those "high-risk" events is due to have people walking through the gates next weekend.

"We actually don't know what the effects are going to be," said Adelle Robinson, from the Australian Festivals Association.

"We have seen draft regulations of that licence, they're not finalised even though they're going into effect this Friday and they refer to different guidelines that we still haven't seen copies of."

The Government told the ABC the scheme was "designed to support music festival operators", but those in the industry are insisting the process has been "rushed".

The 'high-risk' list: Days Like This

Days Like This Transmission

Transmission Up Down

Up Down Defqon.1

Defqon.1 Subsonic

Subsonic This That

This That Knockout Games of Destiny

Knockout Games of Destiny Lost Paradise

Lost Paradise FOMO

FOMO Electric Gardens

Electric Gardens HTID

HTID Rolling Loud

Rolling Loud Laneway

Laneway Ultra

Danny Rogers runs Laneway — one of the festivals declared to be 'high risk".

He said he was "surprised, bewildered, shocked and confused" when he got a late-night text message telling him Laneway was on the list.

"There was no consultation, no reason given. It was just simply you're on a list of high-risk festivals in NSW," he said.

"We require consultation as an industry so you can ... explain to us how people are coming up with decisions that impact our livelihoods.

"It feels like one department isn't talking to the other. They've been coming out with statements and it all feels very rushed."

He said an attempt by industry to talk to the Premier resulted in a meeting of "policy people" that was "about as vague as you could possibly imagine".

What started as a move to make festivals safer has turned into a messy bureaucratic process that festivalgoers are calling a war on music.

Protesters hold a sign at the Don't Kill Live Music rally in Sydney's Hyde Park. ( AAP: Danny Casey )

There's been a bit of back and forth ...

Over the summer, a total of five people died at music festivals in NSW, but it was back in October that the New South Wales Government flagged changes were coming.

After two people died at Defqon.1 festival in Penrith, the Government asked an expert panel to provide some recommendations on how to keep people safe at music festivals held in the state.

Among other recommendations, the expert panel suggested a new category of liquor licence be created specifically for music festivals.

Festivals required to obtain a music festival licence will need to present a safety management plan for the event.

Plans would need to make provisions for things like evacuation points, signage to the location of health services and free water stations and entry and exit points for emergency vehicles.

The Government has always maintained the new licensing scheme would come into effect on March 1, 2019, but it initially announced it would apply to all music festivals in the state and that plunged many operators into uncertainty.

The Farmer and the Owl festival is being held on March 2. Its organisers sent this message to followers yesterday describing the uncertainty they'd experienced over the past three weeks:

The Farmer and Owl organisers sent this message to their followers detailing the lead-up to the event. ( Supplied: The Farmer and the Owl )

Before the "high-risk" list was released, there were reports some festivals were facing huge security bills and other costs that were not part of the their budget when ticket prices were set months ago.

How do festivals get on the list?

A spokesperson for the NSW Government said in a statement:

"Festivals required to operate under the new licensing regime will be festivals where a serious drug-related illness or death has occurred in the past three years or where the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority has determined, having regard to expert advice from NSW Health and NSW Police, that there may be a significant risk of serious drug-related illness or death."

The NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority will regularly review the "high-risk" festivals and those that are considered to have improved their safety, may no longer need the licence.

Ms Robinson said: "The way the regulation currently stands, anyone can be added to that list at any time."

"And what could happen to other events to be able to be put on that list. So, it's really quite unbelievable."

Where does that leave the industry?

Adelle Robinson is worried about the future of the festival industry. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito )

Six million people attend live performances in New South Wales each year and those who attend music events and festivals inject $325 million into the state's economy, according to 2017 figures from Live Performance Australia.

Some of the biggest promoters are worried the confusion could affect the industry's growth.

Ms Robinson started one of the state's biggest promotion companies, Fuzzy Music, with two mates in 1996.

It was a grassroots operation that began holding shows in Sydney dance clubs and went on to bring major outdoor events like Parklife to Australia.

She said, in an environment of regulatory uncertainty, new outfits were unlikely to pop up.

"It's the smaller and medium events that are happening or haven't even been thought of yet that potentially won't be able to wear those costs," Ms Robinson said.

"I don't want to be working in an industry where only established promoters can put on festivals.

"I started off as a small promoter and I think it's really important that we're nurturing people who are taking a risks and doing something different and doing something that's really culturally important."

How will all of this affect ticket prices?

Industry players are worried and so are the music lovers.

Thousands of music fans rallied in Sydney's Hyde Park to protest against the State Government's proposed changes to festival licensing. ( ABC Radio Sydney: Zoe Ferguson )

Thousands of people attended the Don't Kill Live Music rally in Sydney's Hyde Park last week to protest against the changes.

According to Ms Robinson, higher ticket prices are "definitely a possibility".

"We've had anecdotes from some of the promoters who are on that list that it's impacted on their ticket sales already," she said.

"There's been issues with insurance for those festivals.

"There's not getting the licence and the additional costs for things like security and user-pays police, there's a real flow-on effect because of the uncertainty that makes it really difficult to run a business that's on that list."

Mr Rogers said the classification as "high risk" could prevent Laneway from taking place in Sydney again.

A spokesperson said the NSW Government wanted music festivals to thrive.

"The NSW Government will continue to work with operators of these festivals to ensure they have appropriate safety arrangements in place and can comply with the new licensing scheme," they said in a statement.

"The scheme is designed to support music festival operators, particularly those who are dealing with the evolving challenge of illegal drug use at their festivals."