Esoteric Music Festival announces free event after festival was canned at 11th hour

A popular music festival that was canned at the 11th hour has made a major announcement, telling ticketholders it’s the “closest we can get” to the festival.

A free event has been announced for Esoteric Music Festival ticketholders after the festival was axed just a day before it was set to go ahead.

The five-day event, slated to kick off on Friday in Donald in regional Victoria, was cancelled on Thursday night, with thousands of early-bird attendees having already lined up at the festival gates as the news broke.

The cancellation came following council approval of the event, however things fell apart over a rejected public entertainment occupancy permit (POPE-OP) application.

A free event has since been announced for festival ticketholders, featuring international headliners and food trucks.

Esoteric Music Festival has been axed a day before it was intended to start. Picture: Supplied

“It’s not Eso, but it’s the closest we can get right now. See you there tribe,” organisers said in a post to Facebook on Saturday afternoon.

The new event is set to kick off at 4pm on Sunday at the Melbourne Pavillion in Kensington.

Esoteric ticketholders were urged to bring their tickets to be scanned at the door, and to arrive early to secure a spot as there’s limited capacity.

“Limited spots available for non-ticket holders at the door on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority access for Esoteric ticket holders,” the post read.

“Stay tuned to our socials for live capacity updates throughout the day.”

Esoteric Music Festival managing director Sam Goldsmith earlier “bureaucracy and politics gone mad” for the cancellation of the event.

“To say we are disappointed is an understatement – we are gutted,” Mr Goldsmith said.

“This is a devastating blow for all involved – from our patrons to the local businesses that have been planning for this all year.”

Days before, Buloke Shire Council approved its permit for the festival, giving it the green light to go ahead.

The festival organiser said he was ‘gutted’ by the news. Picture: Supplied

The festival organisers applied for a 10-year permit in September 2024 after its previous five-year permit expired.

In late February, the council advised the organisers it would refuse the permit due to health and safety concerns, citing a shigellosis outbreak that hit the festival last year, with 250 attendees reportedly falling ill.

Shingellosis is a gastroenteritis infection caused by the Shigella bacteria from faeces, with symptoms including diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.

However, at a council meeting on Monday, the council agreed to let the festival go ahead, though explained the festival organisers required a place of public entertainment occupancy permit (POPE-OP), which was “likely to also be refused due to similar concerns with the health and safety of patrons”.

The festival’s application for the POPE-OP was refused on Tuesday by the council’s municipal building surveyor (MBS), who is employed by the council but independent of it.

MBS is in charge of issuing POPE-OP permits.

“The decision to refuse the POPE-OP aligns with the concerns raised by council officers in their recommendation to refuse the planning permit application,” the council’s statement read.

“These include ongoing safety and compliance concerns as well as the lack of adherence to last year’s POPE-OP.

“The event organisers made an appeal to the state building surveyor, Steven Baxas, to intervene. The state building surveyor has expressed his support for council’s decision to refuse to issue a POPE-OP.

“With the POPE-OP application refused, the event organisers have been advised to cancel the event.

“Ticket holders are advised to not attend the event, as the event does not have the required approvals and to contact the event organisers for more information.”

The festival was intended to take place over the weekend. Picture: Supplied

Mr Goldstein said there was “overwhelming evidence” the festival complied with safety regulations and was “left stunned” by the decision from the building surveyor to not grant the POPE-OP permit.

“Since 2017, this event has been a lifeline for Victoria’s regional tourism and live music scene, injecting more than $15m into the local economy and supporting thousands of jobs in the Wimmera Mallee Region,” Mr Goldstein said in a statement.

“We implore all of our patrons, please hold onto your ticket for next year so that we can continue running this event and supporting Victoria’s northwest region as we have for the past eight years and will come back even stronger in 2026.”

However State Building Surveyor Steven Baxas stood by the decision and said there were several “serious safety concerns” at the site.

“Public safety always needs to come first and we’ve been made aware of a number of serious safety concerns at this site,” Mr Baxas said.

“The MBS has made the correct decision in refusing the festival’s application.”

Online, attendees were furious at the last-minute cancellation, with hundreds of early-bird ticket holders already lined up at the gates.

“You’re joking, we came all the way from Sydney and are now stuck in Melbourne with no further accommodations until next week,” an attendee wrote.

The festival had its POPE-OP application rejected by the council’s municipal building surveyor. Picture: Supplied

“People have been waiting in the heat for hours, many of them drinking, and now they’re all getting turned back out onto the roads,” said another, who claimed the move was “irresponsible”.

“I feel for the locals who need this for a lifeline and to all the patrons who have organised there week for this amazing agent,” a third said.

Australian Festival Association managing director Olly Arkins said Victoria’s “POPE permit regime” was “the most onerous and convoluted in the nation”.

“Esoteric’s cancellation the day before gates were to open shows the need for reform of the regulatory system for festivals and events in Victoria,” they said.

“No major event should get to the finish line, after months of stakeholder consultation, employing staff and local businesses and setting up all the infrastructure, only to have a permit refused at the last moment.”

Arkins said the decision would cause “major reputational damage” to the Victorian live music and festival sector.

“The long overdue review of the Place of Public Entertainment permit system kicked off just this week couldn’t have come at a better time. The system needs urgent reform,” Arkins said.

Originally published as Esoteric Music Festival announces free event after festival was canned at 11th hour