Yours & Owls Becomes The First NSW Festival To Introduce Pill Testing
Yours and Owls welcomes the opportunity to be the first music festival in NSW to trial pill testing at their 2025 event on March 1st and 2nd.
As announced today by the Minns Labour Government, the free service will be run by a government agency for the first time in Australia. Led by qualified staff from NSW Health, by peer workers, health workers and analysts who will clearly communicate the limitations of drug checking to festival goers. Patrons will be invited to have substances analysed to test for purity, potency and adulterants. They will then move to a discussion with a qualified counsellor.
The drug testing facility will be housed within the medical tent on site, with joint entry and exit to guarantee users’ anonymity.
“We enthusiastically welcome this move by the NSW Government. Pill testing is something we have been fighting for, for some time now,” says Festival Co-Founder Ben Tillman. “While Yours and Owls maintains a zero-tolerance policy to illegal drugs, we are realists and see the abstinence-only approach as unhelpful. Pill Testing is not a panacea. However, it is a proven harm minimisation strategy that has been successfully implemented in many countries overseas for the past twenty or so years.”
Patrons are advised that although there will be an amnesty area within and directly around the testing tent, illicit drugs are still illegal in NSW, and the standard legalities surrounding illegal drug use still apply within the festival site. NSW Police will be on-site undertaking actives that may involve drug dog and strip search operations.
“Let me be clear, no level of illicit drug use is safe and pill testing services do not provide a guarantee of safety,” says Minister for Health Ryan Park. “There will always be risks involved when consuming these substances. However, this trial has been designed to provide people with the necessary information to make more informed decisions about drug use, with the goal of reducing drug-related harm and saving lives. Illicit drug use remains illegal in NSW. These services will not be made available to suppliers and police will continue to target them.”
“Ultimately, we ask individuals to take responsibility for themselves and their decision-making to ensure they have a great time safely,” says Ben Tillman. “We also encourage anyone who finds themselves or their mates in trouble to seek medical assistance immediately; there will be no judgment, you won’t get into trouble, patrons need to remember their safety and that of their mates is the most important thing.”
Further information on the NSW Drug Checking trial can be found here.
In a Wollongong festival first, Yours and Owls will be taking over the picturesque Flagstaff Hill, on the Wollongong’s foreshore, for their 2025 festival. The former military fort, set on top of Flagstaff Point, boasts stunning 360-degree and sweeping views of Wollongong Harbour and City Beach.
Yours and Owls 2025, Wollongong’s most iconic festival, in a heritage precinct at Wollongong’s most iconic geographical landmark!
Tickets to this year’s event are 90% sold, so close to sell out once again; we suggest you get in sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
Featuring:
FONTAINES D.C. || DENZEL CURRY || THE KOOKS
GOO GOO DOLLS
and
BRAD COX
joining, in alphabetical order
COURTEENERS || ELDERBROOK || HOCKEY DAD||HONEY DIJON || JPEG MAFIA
THE JUNGLE GIANTS || PEACH PRC || SALUTE
THE VERONICAS
and
ALLDAY || BABE RAINBOW || COTERIE || CYRIL || DICE || THE DREGGS
FRANKIE STEW & HARVEY GUNN ||GRENTPEREZ || ISABEL LAROSA || MAGDALENA BAY MAY A || MARK BLAIR ||POND || RICHY MITCH & THE COAL MINERS || SAM TOMPKINS
SAN CISCO || SHAME || SLOWLY SLOWLY || SYCCO
ARMLOCK|| AUTUMN SUNSET || BATTLESNAKE || BEAN MAGAZINE || BECCA HATCH BODYJAR || THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS || CHEEKY LEASH
C.O.F.F.I.N || CROCODYLUS || GIRAFFEHEAD || KELI HOLIDAY || KITSCHEN BOY || KOBIE DEE || LEMONISE || LE SHIV || L.O.W
MISS KANINNA || NICK WARD || RA RA VIPER || SATIN CALI || SEVILLES ||
SUGAR FREE || TOTAL TOMMY || Y.O.G.A
PLUS
MARK BLAIR || ODYMEL || TOM TRAGO
MINCY || DAMEEEELA || LO’99 || SASHA MILANI || CRESCENDOLL || SEKTA
Jun Wan || Unknown Associates || Jjoska || Subtropic || Cove Sound System
Four On The Floor || sezz77 || Jade Bates || kowojay || Liza
Multiple stages across two days, a wonderland of music, local arts, incredible food, and plenty of bevs by the beach in Wollongong City, Dharawal Country. Yours and Owls 2025 will be 16+ in 2025; a parent or guardian must accompany all people aged 16 + 17 at all times.
March 1st & 2nd, 2025 Wollongong Foreshore, South Beach, Dharawal Country
Tickets On Sale Now via yoursandowlsfestival.com.au
