The future of the Groovin the Moo festival in Canberra is up in the air, after the University of Canberra revealed it will no longer host the ACT leg of the event from 2019.
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Fending off questions about the festival's controversial pill testing trial earlier this year, vice-chancellor Deep Saini said a mutual decision had been reached with its promoter, Cattleyard, ending their contract to hold Groovin the Moo after almost a decade.
"The university felt with the growth in the campus ... the place was no longer fit for purpose so we approached the organisers," Professor Saini told an ACT assembly hearing.
"This year was the last year ... It may happen elsewhere but it will not be on [our] campus."
Cattleyard did not answer questions on Tuesday regarding the future of the Canberra leg of the festival before deadline, but a spokeswoman said the full line-up of venues for Groovin the Moo would be released next week.
The revelation came as Canberra Liberal Andrew Wall questioned how the university's zero tolerance policy on drugs could be reconciled with the Australian-first pill testing trial conducted on campus at the festival in April.
Professor Saini conceded it was "always a danger" holding such a trial would send a mixed message about drug use but said the government and police had backed the event, which he viewed as a public health issue.
"Opinions were split and I fully expected there would be always people thinking that way but at the end of the day ... we thought it was appropriate."
The trial, which only gained final approval at the eleventh hour, was widely hailed as a success by medical experts, picking up two potentially lethal substances and seeing two in five participants modify their planned drug consumption.
A second trial at the Spilt Milk festival, to be held at Commonwealth Park in Canberra next week, was recently blocked by the federal government agency which owns the land, amid warnings from the Canberra Liberals that it would promote drug use.
A University of Canberra spokeswoman said capital works during current campus development were behind its own decision to drop Groovin the Moo.
"The University of Canberra and the Groovin the Moo festival enjoyed a fantastic partnership over the past nine years," she said.
"The university is a proud supporter of live music and is looking forward to hosting quality Australian and international acts at the UC Refectory."
Shadow spokeswoman for community services Elizabeth Kikkert said locals had raised concerns with her about noise at the most recent festival, saying residents at a nearby retirement village reported their walls vibrating with the music.
