Bluesfest takes its final curtain call in 2025 after 35 years

One of Australia’s longest-running major music festivals will put on a last hurrah as a “celebration” of the 35-year-old institution.

Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble has announced next year’s event will be the curtain call for the annual Byron Bay festival.

After 35 years of staging the award-winning destination festival, Noble said he made the announcement to galvanise festival fans to buy tickets to next year’s event so he could put on a last hurrah as a “celebration” of the Australian music institution.

The financial viability of festivals has reached a tipping point this year due to cost of living pressures as promoters struggle to recover from the lack of income from the pandemic shutdown of live music events.

Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay, Mono Fomo in Tasmania, Harvest Rock in Adelaide and the regional Groovin’ The Moo festivals have all been cancelled due to insufficient early ticket sales or suffering a loss this year to smaller crowds.

Promoters rely on early ticket sales to signal confidence in the market and the event’s financial success and to pay upfront artist and supplier fees before the gates open.

Kasey Chambers and American musician Ben Harper enjoyed a moment at Bluesfest 2019. Picture: NCA.

Noble, who plans to reveal the first line-up of artist to perform at the Byron Events Farm next Easter in a week, released a call-to-arms to “my dear Bluesfest family.”

“After more than 50 years in the music business, Bluesfest has been a labour of love, a celebration of music, community, and the resilient spirit of our fans,” he said.

“But after the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter.

“As I said earlier this year at Bluesfest 2024, next year’s festival will be happening and it definitely is, but it will be our last.

“To my dear Bluesfest family, I want to make it the most unforgettable experience yet. If you’ve been thinking about it, now is your last chance to experience our beloved festival.”

Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon, with Peter Noble (second left), are big Bluesfest fans. Instagram: Bluesfest.

Like the majority of Australian festivals, Bluesfest has been hit by a flurry of blows during the last four years starting with the shutdown of live music during the Covid pandemic to extreme weather events.

The 2020 event was cancelled due to mass gathering restrictions and the 2021 festival was shut down the day before it was due to open after one local Covid detection.

Its return in 2022, headlined by Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, The Teskey Brothers and The Cat Empire, was a triumphant success with a combined audience over five days reportedly “around 100,000.”

But the 2023 and 2024 events didn’t sell out, putting Noble, 75, under financial pressures to engage artists, staff and suppliers to stage the 2025 shows.

Midnight Oil headlining drew to a huge crowd to Bluesfest on its return in 2022. Picture: Natalie Grono

“It is financially sustainable to keep doing it, to do the Bluesfest celebration I want to do, and that requires the support of people (to the level) that were coming to Bluesfest prior to Covid and in 2022,” he said.

“We want to do great events.”

Noble said he would like to see more government support and “real decisions made” about assisting the festival sector and “what the arts are going to look like” in current economic conditions.

He said Bluesfest has contributed $1 billion in economic benefit via tourism and hospitality to NSW over the past 10 operating years.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon attended Bluesfest on day 6 of the 2022 federal election campaign. Picture: NCA.

The Federal Government opened the $8.6 million Revive Live program to assist live music venues and festivals announced in the 2024/2025 budget on August 5, with grant applications closing on August 23.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a Bluesfest fan, attending the event during the first week of his 2022 election campaign and introduced to the stage by Jimmy Barnes, while Hollywood stars including Byron locals Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon and Jason Momoa are among its VIP fans.

Kasey Chambers has declared it her appointment annual festival, attending with her family even when she’s not booked to perform, with Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Mavis Staples, John Butler, Buddy Guy, Paul Kelly and Michael Franti are among the fans’ favourite regular performers.

Originally published as Bluesfest takes its final curtain call in 2025 after 35 years