Adelaide music festival Harvest Rock cancelled in 2024

This year’s Harvest Rock music festival has been cancelled – but promoters have left the door ajar for its return in the future.

This year’s Harvest Rock music festival has been cancelled – but the event could return in the future.

Festival organisers made the announcement on social media, saying they have made the “difficult decision not to hold” the state government-backed event in 2024.

“Hey Harvest Rockers, and lovers of live music, wine, food and brew. We’ve been working hard to make Harvest Rock III another incredible event, however we have made the difficult decision to not hold the festival in 2024,” the post said.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of the South Australian government and we look forward to Harvest Rock in the future.

Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said it was “disappointing” that Harvest Rock will not go ahead in 2024 but hoped it could return in coming years.

“The State Government remains open to them coming back and supporting the event in the years to come,” she said.

“We loved hosting the festival and South Australians and interstate visitors really embraced the event over the first two years.”

Ms Bettison confirmed taxpayers will not be out of pocket as a result of the cancellation.

It is understood festival promoter Secret Sounds had yet to secure a headline act for the proposed October weekend.

Live Nation, Secret Sounds’ parent company, said in a statement that the decision to postpone the 2024 festival was made to “ensure that Harvest Rock continues to deliver the experience that our local, national and international fans have come to know and love into the future”.

“We look forward to delivering another amazing Harvest Rock in the future,” the statement said.

There had been much speculation about this year’s event, with no dates locked in or line-up announcements just two months from its usual October timeslot.

Jamiroquai performs at Harvest Rock II, in Rymill Park, Adelaide last year. Picture: Emma Brasier

The crowd gathers in front of the main stage at the debut Harvest Rock festival in 2022. Picture: Topbunk

This week Premier Peter Malinauskas said on radio that Harvest Rock promoter, Secret Sounds, was “really struggling”.

“It’s precarious this year, so what we’ve seen around the country is music festivals effectively hit the fence,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.

It’s understood festival organisers had officially applied to push this year’s date back to November 30 and December 1, in a last-ditch effort to attract a big-name artist.

There’s speculation they were hoping to secure US rock band Pearl Jam, who is touring Australia in mid-November.

The annual two-day event was first launched in 2022 and has previously featured a host of international performers, including headliners Jamiroquai, Beck and Nile Rodgers, plus Crowded House and legendary Australian artist Paul Kelly.

Last year’s Harvest Rock generated $18m in expenditure with 13,027 single or two-day passes sold and a total of 18,226 people attending. About 35 per cent of those attendees came from outside South Australia.

The news comes after Secret Sounds axed this year’s Splendour in the Grass music festival in March, and more recently, the touring Spilt Milk festival.

The company is also behind the popular New Year’s event Falls Festival which was put on hiatus late last year. In June, co-chief executive of Secret Sounds, Jessica Ducrou, announced she was leaving the company.

In March, Harvest Rock organisers successfully applied to Adelaide City Council to hold this year’s event on October 12-13 in the city’s eastern parklands.

In their submission to council, organisers said the two-day concert would attract about 20,000 people per day.