Elements music festival cancelled, Ten Tonne Events falls into liquidation

A boutique electronic Sunshine Coast music festival has conceded defeat after a mixture of low ticket sales and the loss of its usual site led to their debts and costs spiralling.

Electronic music festival Elements which was set to take place in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in 2024 has been cancelled. Picture: Elements

A boutique electronic Sunshine Coast music festival has been cancelled with its host company going into liquidation following rising costs and complications.

Elements Music Festival announced on Wednesday the end of their long running festivities in the region’s hinterland due to low ticket sales, inflation, the pandemic and Queensland weather according to its organisers.

In a lengthy statement, organisers said a “relentless series of setbacks” meant they accepted defeat after a cataclysmic few years.

Organisers said the sale of LandCruiser 4WD park which typically held the event in the Sunshine Coast hinterland hit the festival, forcing them move sites at an expense.

The organisers claimed if this hadn’t occurred the festival would “still be profitable and financially sustainable”.

More obstacles continued in the summer of 2022 which included moving costs, bad weather and low ticket sales.

“No matter how small we made the festival, our biggest expenses — medics, security, permits, and infrastructure — would not drop by even a dollar,” the organisers said.

“Government regulations and council requirements also became increasingly strict, and every new test we had to take and plan we had to make cost us thousands of additional dollars.”

Elements Festival in the Sunshine Coast hinterland will not go ahead this year. Picture: Elements

The organisers said they were faced with no other option but to cancel their 2024 instalment after being unable to pay their biggest expenses in early January.

“Elements has been liquidated, and the owner has been forced to go personally bankrupt,” their statement said.

Organisers said they were “deeply sorry and truly ashamed” and were “gutted” by this turn of events.

The company Ten Tonne Events, which planned to host Elements, was put into liquidation on Tuesday according to the Australian Security Investments Commission.

In an email to ticket holders sent by Pearce and Heers Insolvency Accounts seen by this publication, the firm confirmed they were not able to issue refunds but asked for punters to return proof of debt firms to them.

“Please note that there is virtually no prospect that you will receive any funds in respect of your claim as the company has limited funds and assets available to it,” the email stated.

An Elements Festival spokesman said it wasn’t an easy decision to cancel the festival and came at “great personal cost” for the owner and all of their staff.

The organisers said it boiled down to the post Covid economy and massive rise in festival costs.

“We put our entire hearts and souls into creating a space that elevated artists, musicians, and performers in new and exciting ways, giving them opportunities to connect with a loving audience and create transformative shared moments,” the spokesman said.

“This is a huge loss for local electronic music and artists.”