Bluesfest goers say they feel betrayed by 'final festival' marketing

Australia Broadcast Center

22-04-2025

Byron Bay's Bluesfest has been resurrected for Easter next year, but it is leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of music lovers who bought into the 2025 event believing it would be the last.
Local Jeff Barnes said he stopped attending the festival years ago because it had gotten too big but bought tickets this year to mark what he thought was an historic event.
On Good Friday he said an "unbelievable" announcement rang out over the festival grounds spruiking 2026 ticket sales.
Jeff Barnes (left) at the festival in earlier times with friend Mick Gunn.
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Supplied: Jeff Barnes
)
"I just thought, 'We've been screwed over'," he said.
"Officially this was the last ever Bluesfest and we felt like we had to be a part of it.
"
We just feel like we have been totally betrayed.
"
Bluesfest founder Peter Noble has previously said 2025 could be the last Bluesfest event.
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Supplied: Bluesfest
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In a statement, Bluesfest said this year's event had attracted 109,000 patrons, the third largest crowd in the event's 35 years.
Festival director Peter Noble said the support of patrons and artists since the announcement that 2025 might be the final year had been a "clarion call".
"That support means Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive,"
he said.
"People want this event, people want it to continue."
Marketing strategy
Ticket sales to the 2025 event gained momentum after the announcement in August last year it would be the last.
By October, the promoter was advising its mailing list that 80 per cent of tickets had been sold.
Speaking at a federal parliamentary inquiry into the live music industry in October, Mr Noble conceded the suggestion Bluesfest might be ending was part of a strategy to sell tickets.
"They're going to sit on that money unless you find a way to make them spend it," he told the inquiry.
"It's Taylor Swift coming, it's Cold Chisel's tour which is once every five or 10 years, or Bluesfest might just be ending."
The festival's director says good ticket sales for 2025 were a "clarion call" to run the event again.
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ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross
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Mr Noble told the inquiry the tactic had helped the festival sell tickets.
"We made very sure underneath that we said, 'We don't want this to be the last festival, we're doing everything we can for it not to be', but in the end that's the sort of stuff you've gotta do nowadays," he said.
"
And is that right … [that] people have got to be coerced to spend their money?
"
Boon for business
The news Bluesfest will be on in 2026 is music to the ears of the Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce.
President Matthew Williamson said the event was a vital part of the region's economy, particularly following the demise of other major festivals in Byron Shire.
"These types of events allow businesses to keep their heads above water," he said.
Matt Williamson says news of the 2026 event is welcome, despite "vaudevillian" tactics.
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Supplied
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Mr Williamson said he hoped public sentiment over the "final Bluesfest" marketing would not deter people from attending in future.
"I think Mr Noble's approach to marketing is his own business," he said.
"There has always been a little bit of a vaudevillian nature to Bluesfest, and its promotion, so if people choose to not respond to that, well, then that's up to them.
"He's free to promote his business as he sees fit."
Traffic woes
Byron Shire Council said it was aware of reports of problems with patron transport, parking, and pedestrian control.
The council said it would be meeting with festival organisers to look at the event's management and what needed to be improved or changed prior to the next event.
Mr Williamson said the situation was disappointing.
"A lot of people come from out of the region and they want to enjoy the beaches and go to the shops and have a nice meal on town, and also go out to the festival," he said.
"People being able to move back and forth between Byron town and the festival is really important to local businesses."
Coronavirus restrictions have hit live music and festivals particularly hard.
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ABC: Margaret Burin
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Mr Noble said there were always aspects of major events that could be improved, but people had been warned to book bus tickets and parking ahead of time.
"It's very difficult. We don't know how to plan if we don't know what's happening," the festival director said.
"
Every single week we said, 'Buy your bus tickets so we know what to put on'. Then people don't, and then that entitlement jumps up at you.
"
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