Bluesfest could turn maroon as Queensland fights for top festival

The NRL grand final is one thing, but Queensland tourism bosses have their eyes on another major NSW event that would be a big win for the Sunshine State.

QUEENSLAND tourism bosses are battling to bring the Byron Bay Bluesfest across the border.

The event, staged every Easter long weekend since 1990, has become one of the most important on the country’s festival calendar, drawing more than 100,000 music fans.

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It attracts worldwide attention, with previous headline acts including Bob Dylan and B.B. King.

Director wrote an open letter to the New South Wales Government in April, threatening to move the festival interstate due to the cost of new licensing and safety guidelines.

Although NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian moved quickly to reassure organisers that Bluesfest would be unaffected, Tourism and Events Queensland saw it as a window of opportunity, and has since been lobbying hard to bring it to the Sunshine State.

Sources told The Courier-Mail: “It is a great event and one we would love to have in Queensland.

“NSW is fighting hard to keep it, but our people are doing what they can to persuade the organisers to come.

“The negotiations are still very active.”

The most likely venue, should they succeed, is Woodfordia — the site of the Woodford Folk Festival in the Moreton Bay region.

The annual festival has become an iconic event, attracting 125,000 people over six days between Christmas and New Year’s Day.