More music festivals could leave New South Wales, the State Government has been warned after it named more than a dozen events that will be affected by new licensing regulations.

Key points: Fourteen music festivals are labelled "higher risk" and will have to supply a safety management plan

Fourteen music festivals are labelled "higher risk" and will have to supply a safety management plan Any event where a drug-related death or illness has occurred in the past three years is automatically labelled "higher risk"

Any event where a drug-related death or illness has occurred in the past three years is automatically labelled "higher risk" The NSW Opposition is warning festivals will cancel or leave the state

NSW Minister for Racing Paul Toole has listed 14 music festivals as "higher risk" events which will need to supply a safety management plan to receive a licence from the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.

Defqon.1, Knockout Games of Destiny and FOMO are among those affected by the changes, due to take effect on March 1.

Any event where a drug-related death or illness had occurred in the past three years has been automatically included on the list.

"Additionally, we have had advice from NSW Health and NSW Police as to some of these festivals that may also be at risk," Mr Toole said.

He said festivals named on the list would need to review their safety practices under the new regulations.

"This doesn't mean that this event is not going to take place," Mr Toole said.

"It might mean that they're going to be looking at providing the right type of health support on the ground — is it the right type of people, have they got the right number of police supporting and supervising the events?"

Fears events may be cancelled

The Mountain Sounds festival was cancelled and organisers blamed restrictions imposed by authorities. ( Supplied: Mountain Sounds )

The Mountain Sounds Festival (MSF) was supposed to be held earlier this month, but organisers claimed they were forced to cancel it after authorities imposed "impossible" restrictions.

Shadow Minister for Music and the Night Time Economy John Graham warned more music festivals may have to cancel or leave NSW.

"The festival sector are saying this, they're worried that up to a third of festivals could leave NSW if we don't get this right," Mr Graham said.

The Australian Festival Association (AFA) slammed the new regulations and said the Government consultation process was a "farce".

Festivals listed: Days Like This, Victoria Park, Camperdown, 2019

Days Like This, Victoria Park, Camperdown, 2019 Transmission, Sydney Showground, 2019

Transmission, Sydney Showground, 2019 Up Down, Newcastle Foreshore, Newcastle, 2019

Up Down, Newcastle Foreshore, Newcastle, 2019 Defqon.1, Sydney International Regatta Centre, 2019

Defqon.1, Sydney International Regatta Centre, 2019 Subsonic, Riverwood Downs, Monkerai, 2019

Subsonic, Riverwood Downs, Monkerai, 2019 This That, Wickham Park, Newcastle, 2019

This That, Wickham Park, Newcastle, 2019 Knockout Games of Destiny, Sydney Showground, 2019

Knockout Games of Destiny, Sydney Showground, 2019 Lost Paradise, Glenworth Valley, 2019

Lost Paradise, Glenworth Valley, 2019 FOMO, Parramatta Park, 2020

FOMO, Parramatta Park, 2020 Electric Gardens, Centennial Park, 2020

Electric Gardens, Centennial Park, 2020 HTID, Sydney Showground, 2020

HTID, Sydney Showground, 2020 Rolling Loud, Sydney Showground, 2020

Rolling Loud, Sydney Showground, 2020 Laneway, Callan Park, Rozelle, 2020

Laneway, Callan Park, Rozelle, 2020 Ultra, Parramatta Park, 2020

"Despite numerous attempts to engage the Government on these issues, our offer to sit down and work through sensible steps to improve safety has fallen on deaf ears," it said in a statement.

Organisers were alerted about the changes via text message, and risk assessment guidelines and reference documents were not made available, the AFA said.

"It's also not clear how new festivals will be assessed, what discretionary powers will be available and what risk assessment criteria will be applied," the statement said.

The advocacy group, which features a number of event organisers including Danny Rogers from the St Jerome's Laneway Festival, said some of the events named should not have been included in the higher risk category.

"A stand out example is Laneway Festival which does not meet the Government's stated high-risk criteria," it said.

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

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 the new regime would lead to last-minute costs that would force events to cancel.

'Police will work with festival operators'

The State Government said events listed could still go ahead with safety management plans in place. ( triple j Hack: Avani Dias )

Mr Toole said festivals would be able to have their names removed from the list if they improved their safety practices.

"That is something that police will look at, police will work with music operators," he said.

"There is no set rule; it depends on the time of year, it depends on the number of patrons that are going to be at these music festivals and we also know that it will depend on the history of the event.

"But we do know, for those 14 events, they will need to provide some clarity for the safety management plans in relation to how they're going to be safe."

But Mr Graham said "key details" of the policy were missing.

"This is still a mess. Many of the details about how festivals will be assessed for risk are missing, many of the guidelines sitting behind these regulations are still not there, we're a week away from the Government implementing this," he said.

"There are still key guidelines about how the health department will assess these festivals not released."