Latest news with #AustralianFestivalAssociation
Perth Now
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
The beat goes on as Bluesfest back in business
Thousands of adoring music fans will see their favourite bands take centre stage again as the iconic Byron Bay Bluesfest confirms it will return for an encore despite fears it was folding for good. More than 40 music festivals across Australia have been cancelled since 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the live music sector. Bluesfest appeared set to join the list when it announced its artist line-up in August, with bombastic festival director Peter Noble declaring the 2025 event would be the last. The "last ever" announcement ignited demand, with 97 per cent of tickets snapped up - and Saturday entry sold out - before gates opened on Thursday afternoon. "We've had the highest attendance of any Australian festival since pre-COVID at 109,000 attendances - the third-biggest event we've done in the history of the festival ... festivals are back," Mr Noble said in a statement on Tuesday. "Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive. It's a clarion call for me. People want this event. People want it to continue." The NSW government has also stepped in to disburse $2.25 million in emergency funding as part of its Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, with five festivals including Bluesfest to receive up to $500,000 each. "The festival circuit is a vital part of the live music industry which employs almost 15,000 people," Arts Minister John Graham said on Sunday. "It's too important to lose, that's why we're backing festivals with emergency funding and reforms that bring down their costs." The festival funding will also benefit Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Your and Owls in Wollongong and Listen Out and Field Day in Sydney. Australian Festival Association managing director Olly Arkins said the financial shot in the arm could not have come at a better time. "At a time when costs are up and ticket sales are down, there was a huge risk we wouldn't see some festivals continue in NSW," they told AAP. "This funding package is really about trying to keep as many of our favourite and loved festivals going but ... hopefully that provides an environment for new and upcoming festivals where the regulatory burden will be lower." A report from the Bluesfest organisers estimated the 2024 festival alone contributed more than $230 million to the NSW economy. Credited with breaking artists including Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and Michael Franti's Spearhead in Australia, Bluesfest relocated from the centre of Byron Bay to a permanent home at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm in 2010. This year's line-up featured headliners including Crowded House, Tones and I, Gary Clark Jr, Tom Morello, Hilltop Hoods, Missy Higgins and Rag'n'Bone Man.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Australian music festival Groovin the Moo cancelled for second year in a row
Regional music festival Groovin the Moo has cancelled for the second year in a row, just a week after Splendour in the Grass cancelled its 2025 edition, also for the second year running. 'Groovin the Moo won't be happening in 2025, while we work on finding the most sustainable model for Australia's most loved regional touring festival,' the organisers wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Friday afternoon. 'We will really miss seeing the smiling faces of all our beloved Moo Crew … In the meantime, which artist would you most like to see on a GTM lineup?' In February 2024, Groovin the Moo cancelled all six of its dates two months before the festival was due to kick off, saying ticket sales had 'not been sufficient to deliver a regional festival of this kind'.In August, the founder of Bluesfest, Peter Noble, announced that the long-running Byron Bay music festival would be winding up after its 2025 edition, due to take place in April. Speaking to Guardian after the cancellation of Splendour last week, the managing director of the Australian Festival Association, Olly Arkins, warned about the sector's poor state, saying: 'It just shows we're not out of the difficult period for festivals yet.' On Friday, Arkins called the cancellation of Groovin the Moo 'disappointing'. 'Regional festivals like Groovin the Moo play a vital role in connecting audiences with live music outside of major cities, providing opportunities for artists, local businesses, and festival workers. But like many events across the country, the rising costs of production and ongoing challenges in the industry have made it increasingly difficult to operate,' he said. 'This cancellation highlights the urgent need for the federal government to extend Revive Live funding to ensure festivals of all sizes can continue to thrive,' he added. In 2024, a federal parliamentary inquiry into the beleaguered live music sector heard how rising operational costs and increasing incidences of extreme weather – with knock-on effects for event cancellations and insurance premiums – were the biggest issues facing festivals. Industry insiders also last year blamed a scarcity of willing and available headline artists and a preference among punters for more boutique festivals that catered to niche tastes. A Senate report is due to be handed down later this year.
