La Nina, the little girl, is causing havoc for Wollongong's major festivals and events

The silver lining of the La Nina swamp is event producers who have traditionally sought Stuart Park because of accessibility and size might end up at Port Kembla.

Read more: Pop icon Richard Marx finally ends a murder mystery ahead of Wollongong show

"A summer of no festivals would represent a loss of millions of dollars injected into the city, but we're confident that won't be the case," said Jeremy Wilshire, Major Events Manager at Destination Wollongong.

"The big operators are investigating alternate options such as Port Kembla, the informal site [at Dalton Park] north of Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club and private options, while maintaining Stuart Park in the mix."

He said enquiries for events were back to pre-COVID levels, however it was still an unstable market due to a number of factors - including the continued prevalence of heavy rain and flood damage caused by La Nina (Spanish for "little girl").

"It's a flakier and highly competitive market," Mr Wilshire said.

"Event operators are keen but understandably nervous. There's lots of discussions, but it's difficult to land new large-scale events, based on competition from other cities, a reticence by operators to take on more risk, and the impact weather events have had this year."

A Wollongong Council spokeswoman said they were looking into engaging with a drainage expert to undertake a feasibility study, though short-term viability for event may still be possible.

"[It] will depend on the weather and the areas of the park," she said.

"It's difficult to provide an accurate view of the future condition of the ground as that will depend on future weather conditions."

Read more: Coledale RSL sub-branch set to vote on amalgamation with Tradies

As of Friday, giant puddles could be seen in lots of areas across the turf, while the grass was still inundated with water and ankle deep in parts.

But the council currently has another 14 pre-approved event sites around the Local Government Area, though none quite have the capacity of the 30,000 Stuart Park has.

King George V Oval at Port Kembla has capacity for 22,000 and suited to "mid-sized events, concerts" (according to the council's website); JJ Kelly Park in Wollongong can hold 38,00 though suited to "sporting events, smaller community celebrations"; while Dalton Park at Fairy Meadow has been used for major sporting and music events in the past.

In April, Wollongong's biggest music festival Yours and Owls was forced to cancel just days out due to flooding and safety issues at Stuart Park.

This October's Spring Loaded festival (with artists like Grinspoon, Frenzal Rhomb and Regurgitator) has been moved to the University of Wollongong Gardens, as organisers deemed Stuart Park too much of a safety hazard to use it as planned.

The upcoming MS Gong Ride which sees around 10,000 cycle for charity between Sydney and Wollongong is set to also move their finish base from North Wollongong to an informal section of Dalton Park, according to the local tourism body.

Since the chaos of mud-soaked bodies at July's Splendour in the Grass festival went viral, major events around the state have been dropping like flies.

La Nina was blamed for this week's cancellation of Strawberry Fields, with the site at Tocumwal underwater and not deemed likely to subside by the festival kick-off on October 28. The Border region lost an expected $6.7 million economic injection.

Other events shelved due to the fury of "the little girl" include This That set for Newcastle and Brisbane; Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie; while organisers of Berry's Fairgrounds Festival blamed the weather as one of their reasons to cancel.

Wollongong Council wants feedback on their draft master plans for Stuart and JP Galvin Parks to better understand the different needs of the people and businesses who use the areas. Feedback is open until 2 November 2022 via their website.

Thank you for reading this free article from our newsroom. You can support local journalism by subscribing here.