Once again, Amsterdam have beaten the rest of the world in the race to being progressive, bold and generally awesome.

This week, Amsterdam City Council have announced that local festival organisers will only be granted licenses if they guarantee unlimited access to free tap water for all attendees.

The ruling comes after a string of complaints were received in June about the Amsterdam Open Air Festival, which featured sets from the likes of Hudson Mohawk, Bonobo, Four Tet and loads more. Reports surfaced of security guards prohibiting punters from refilling their water bottles at available taps. Similar complaints had apparently been made about other festivals too.

As Australia heads towards hotter months, and festival season along with it, we can only hope that we’ll start to see something similar.

Last year, there were a number of similar comments about local festivals, including the high prices of bottled water, a lack of taps providing free refills – and queues of more than an hour for each.

“Water bottles were $6,” said one punter at a 2013 Sydney event. “There were only two refill taps, and you’d have to wait at least an hour in line.”

Meredith Music Festival has already announced an incredibly well-received ban on Indian headdresses, offensive slogans and more. Meredith and Golden Plains have supplied free water for many years now, so have a look at who’s leading the Australian game.