‘Struggling’: Another beloved Aussie festival axed

There’s sad news from the organisers of yet another popular Aussie music and arts festival, despite years of rising attendance.

Another Australian music and arts festival is facing the axe, with the organisers of Victoria’s Gaytimes Festival today announcing that it will go “on hiatus” following this year’s event.

The ninth edition of the LGBTIQ camping festival will be held from March 21 to 23 in Gembrook.

The event began in 2016 with 300 festivalgoers in a mountaintop ski resort in Marysville, and has grown to a multi-day event that now attracts around 1500 punters each year.

Despite this success, Festival Director Anna Whitelaw said in a statement released today that rising costs had forced the decision.

Festivalgoers at Victoria's Gaytimes Festival.

“Like many festivals in Australia and worldwide, we have been hit with skyrocketing cost increases which has led to two consecutive years of losses, despite increasing patron numbers. Many of these costs – like transport, staging, equipment, insurance – have more than doubled since 2020,” she said.

“In the current economic climate, we are also struggling to secure acts and sell tickets in addition to grappling with higher overheads.

“As an independent community-run festival, Gaytimes is self-financed almost entirely from ticket revenue with very little support from external sources like government funding, sponsorship or philanthropy. Despite our best efforts, running a festival like ours is simply becoming too hard.”

While Whitlaw said the current plan is for the festival to take a year off and return in 2027, she acknowledged that nothing is certain, and encouraged potential festivalgoers to attend next month’s event and celebrate like it’s the last Gaytimes.

Festival Director Anna Whitelaw said rising costs have forced her hand.

She encouraged punters to treat next month’s event like it’s the last one.

“While we hope this year isn’t our last and we can come back better than ever, if there is one thing we’ve learned from running a festival through years of bushfires, storms, pandemics and inflation is that nothing is certain, and nothing lasts forever,” she said.

“With that in mind, we have made this decision now, so we can put all our energy into making this year’s festival our best yet … in case it is our last.

“So this is an invitation to our beloved LGBTIQ+ community: if you love Gaytimes as much as we do, or if you have never been and always wanted to go, this year’s festival in March is your chance to come along and experience what we still believe is both one of the best festivals in Australia, and one of the best queer parties on earth.”

The news comes amid a spate of cancellations for major Australian music festivals, among them Groovin the Moo, Splendour in the Grass, You & Me, Spilt Milk, The Birdsville Big Red Bash and Harvest Rock.

Originally published as ‘Struggling’: Another beloved Aussie festival axed