Bluesfest director Peter Noble claims music festival would have been saved if it were a football club
Bluesfest director Peter Noble claims the arts sector is being treated as “dispensable” following news of the festival being cancelled.
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Bluesfest director Peter Noble claims the federal government would have “found money” had it been a football club struggling rather than a music festival after news that next year’s iconic event will be the last.
Mr Noble confirmed the 2025 festival would be the last of Bluesfest after 36 years, claiming he just “can’t fight the economy” anymore as the festival has long been lobbying for government funding.
The arts sector is being treated as “dispensable”, according to Mr Noble, who claimed if Bluesfest were a football club, the government would have stepped in.
“Hopefully, (the government) will see the light of day and give us a reprieve, but if not I’m not prepared to do anything other than what’s been regarded as one of the world’s greatest festivals,” he said.
“In the end, I bet if we were an Aussie rules club … they would’ve found money.
“Are the arts really that much of a thing you can just chuck in the bin and forget about? Do they really think another Bluesfest will just pop up from somewhere? It’s not going to work like that.”
The federal government in February teamed up with Rugby Australia in a $14m deal with the Australian-Pacific Rugby Union Partnership to support high-performance rugby union and previously announced $240m in funding for a Hobart stadium, paving the way for the AFL’s first Tasmanian team.
However, the stadium could also host live music events, and the Albanese government has pumped $8.6m into the Revive Live program, aimed at supporting music festivals and live music venues.
Music Australia is also undertaking work to inform the government’s future decisions on how to address pressures in the live music industry.
Arts Minister Tony Burke said while he wished festivals like Bluesfest would “go on forever”, ticket sales had proven difficult since Covid.
“I love Bluesfest, I’ve been attending it for more than a decade,” he said.
“Since the pandemic, ticket sales for festivals have been getting harder and harder.
“While I wish a festival like Bluesfest would go on forever, when I attended last year a lot of us were worried that it would be the final one.
“Knowing that we can all get back together next Easter – for what we can only expect will be an incredible line-up – is something I’m really looking forward to.”
However Greens MP and music spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann wasn’t surprised by claims the arts sector is being treated as “dispensable”.
“When in opposition, Labor talked up a big game about saving the music industry. Yet since they’ve been elected, not a single thing has been done that would make a tangible difference to a music festival’s bottom line,” she said.
“It’s harder to control certain rising costs such as insurance, but not everything is out of the government’s hands.
“Why haven’t they ordered the police to stop charging festival organisers eye watering sums for the pleasure of an over-the-top police presence? It’s just not good enough.”
The tough decision to call it quits was made after tickets to the last two Bluesfests failed to sell out, with Mr Noble saying people under the age of 30 simply don’t have the disposable income to be spending on festivals.
The first lot of artists set to play at the 2025 Bluesfest were announced earlier in the week, with Crowded House the headliners along with other Aussie artists Vance Joy, Ocean Alley and Tones and I.
However, Mr Noble has more tough decisions on the way as he grapples with which artists to add to the bill, with more than 50 Aussie artists reportedly reaching out in a bid to perform at the last event.
“What happens is when you make an announcement like we did last week, we get offered so many artists who just want to be on the bill who played over the years,” he said.
“It’s going to be difficult, we’ve counted 51 Aussie artists that have said they want to play since last Wednesday’s announcement.
“What do you do? That’s just the way it is – they’re not all going to get on but … hopefully we’ll have another great announcement in two or three weeks time.”
The cancellation of Bluesfest, which is an all ages event, also comes as industry experts call for more ways to include young people in live music as Australia faces a “lost generation of music lovers”.
Q Music and Big Sound chief executive Kris Stewart last week said more all-ages events were needed to keep the festival sector going after Good Things organisers were forced to launch a petition to include 16 and 17 year olds at their Sydney festival this year.
“We run the risk of having a lost generation of music lovers,” Mr Stewart said.
“This is a very risky moment for us … we run the unintended consequence of 20 years from now, more of these festivals might not exist.”
Mr Noble said the gift of music for young people was the “greatest thing you can do”, which is why Bluesfest doesn’t charge for children under the age of 10.
“My parents took me to shows and I wanted to be like the people on that stage, and that’s what turned me at the age of 15 into a musician,” he said.
“And those gifts, you cannot put a price on that, because you’re giving people a lifetime of enjoyment.”
However, Mr Noble pointed out that festivals such as Port Fairy Folk Festival, which will welcome Missy Higgins to their bill in 2025, welcome audiences of all ages, with children up to 12 able to attend for free.
“All the folk festivals like Port Fairy, they’ve all got plenty of room for you to bring your kids,” he said.
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