Iconic Aussie festival axed for second year in a row

One of the country’s most iconic festivals will sit out another year, in what is a fresh blow for Australia’s struggling music festival scene.

Iconic Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass will not go ahead for the second year in a row, organisers announced today.

In a post to the festival’s social media accounts today, organisers revealed that Splendour “needs a little more time to recharge and we won’t be back this year.”

Think of it as a breather so we can come back even bigger and better when the time is right,” they wrote.

Once a titan of the Australian music festival circuit, Splendour has had a disastrous few years, with last year’s festival cancelled just days after tickets went on sale.

At the time, organisers explained that they would be “taking the year off” due to “unexpected events”, an explanation that frustrated many music lovers who had bought tickets and started to book transport and accommodation when tickets went on sale just days earlier.

Embracing the sun at Splendour 2023... Picture: Getty

...and enduring the mud the year before. Picture: Matt Gazy

Australian superstar Kylie Minogue was billed to headline last year, with G Flip, Tash Sultana, Angie McMahon, Confidence Man, and other local acts also on the bill.

The sudden cancellation came after severe weather had affected the 2022 festival, leading to a big backlash from unhappy punters who had to wade through knee-deep mud and deal with chaotic transport to and from the site.

Greens senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young, said after last year’s cancellation that Splendour being unable to go ahead painted a grim picture of Australia’s arts and live music scene.

“Another festival in Australia which is unable to go ahead because of all the pressures and cost associated,” she said in a passionate address.

“This is another festival in a long list that of those that have had to be cancelled by organisers over the last few months.”

In recent months, festivals including You & Me, Spilt Milk, The Birdsville Big Red Bash and Harvest Rock have all announced cancellations.