Parachute Festival offers $1 tickets to struggling families

The Parachute Music Festival has unveiled a new initiative for cash-strapped families wishing to attend the event called ‘Pay What You Can Afford’, with passes starting from as little as $1.

There are no limits on the number of tickets and purchasers do not have to provide evidence of their financial situation, with organisers saying they “don’t want to create barriers” to attendance.

Parachute founder Mark de Jong says in the wake of a financially tough few years, the cut-price tickets are the perfect way to keep the festival accessible.

In a year which has seen the Big Day Out music festival fall into financial strife and announce that 2012 will be its last appearance, Mr de Jong isn’t concerned about the impact of ‘Pay What You Can Afford’ passes.

“It’s more important to have [families] experience our festival than it is to have the income from their ticket.” Mr de Jong says the live music market is becoming increasingly difficult due to the global economic climate and the wide variety of available events.

He says cheap tickets are a new approach they hope will pay off. “People need to start coming up with some creative new approaches to things, and this is what it is for us,” he says. “We see this as kind of a bold creative approach which we think is going to help the festival long-term.”

The festival takes place at Mystery Creek on the weekend of January 27-30.