Splendour organisers confirm cancellation due to ‘unexpected events’

Music festival Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled due to “unexpected events”, the festival promoter says.

The festival, usually held annually at the North Byron Parklands in Byron Shire, NSW, will not go ahead in July. Splendour’s cancellation comes just two weeks after it announced its line-up and the news that Kylie Minogue would headline the event.

Splendour in the Grass 2023.Credit: Bianca Holderness

“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events, we’ll be taking the year off,” the festival’s promoter, Secret Sounds, wrote in a statement posted to the festival’s Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon.

“We thank you for your understanding and will be working hard to be back in future years.”

Following the announcement, the Minns government revealed it had offered financial support to Splendour organisers to avert cancellation.

Ticket holders will be refunded automatically by Moshtix within the next five to 10 business days.

Splendour in the Grass became Splendour in the Mud in 2022 after the site was flooded.Credit: Getty Images

As well as Minogue, the line-up included Arcade Fire, Tash Sultana, Tones and I, Confidence Man and Royel Otis. Pre-release tickets went on sale on March 14, with general release tickets available from March 21.

“We’re heartbroken to be missing a year, especially after more than two decades in operation,” Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, co-chief executives of Secret Sounds, said following the cancellation announcement.

“This festival has always been a huge community effort, and we’d like to thank everyone for their support and overall faith. We hope to be back in the future.”

Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke said the cancellation was “extremely disappointing news for the artists on the line-up and all the music lovers who wanted to attend this iconic festival”.

“There are many challenges for festivals at the moment,” Burke said. “A number of genre-specific festivals have been successful but the broader festivals are clearly facing real challenges.”

NSW Music Minister John Graham said the cancellation was devastating news.

“The festival industry is under extreme pressure, and I am deeply worried about the health of the festival scene here in NSW,” he said. “The NSW government has offered financial support to help the event proceed this year. We will continue to work with them and hope to see them return next year.”

NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said unless government support was forthcoming, music festivals might be dead within a few years. Faehrmann, who sounded the alarm about the policing costs charged to NSW festivals, said that a pivotal experience for young people could be lost to a generation and it was a sad day for the Australian music industry.

Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon described Splendour’s cancellation as “a big blow for the community”.

“There are so many benefits to having Splendour in our Shire – for patrons, for businesses on the festival site, businesses around town, [especially] during the winter. It leaves a big hole in the calendar,” Lyon said.

Like many music festivals across Australia, Splendour has struggled in recent years. In 2022, the festival’s first day was cancelled due to flooding. Last year’s festival – headlined by Lizzo, Flume and Mumford & Sons – failed to sell out, with ticket sales down 30 per cent on the previous year.

Peter Noble, a veteran music industry figure and director of Bluesfest, which opens in Byron Bay this week, called the Splendour news a tragedy.

“No cancellation of a major event is good,” he said. “I do hope they find their way back. [But] major events when they cancel rarely come back … They rolled the dice and there’s nothing wrong with doing that – it’s called business.”

Falls Festival, which is also run by Secret Sounds (owned by US-based Live Nation), was cancelled last year following a spat over its proposed new home. The event used to be held in the Victorian coastal town of Lorne, but an attempt was made to permanently relocate to Murroon, a small town 35 kilometres from Lorne. Nearby residents objected, leaving the festival with no home.

Falls was also cancelled in 2019, due to extreme fire risk near the festival site, and again in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

Groovin the Moo, an annual regional touring festival organised by Cattleyard Promotions, was also cancelled this year, due to dwindling ticket sales. The 2024 edition had been set to travel between Wayville, Bendigo, Canberra, Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast, and Bunbury in April and May, and feature artists such as The Kooks, Mallrat and King Stingray.

Meanwhile, Dark Mofo – Hobart’s annual midwinter music and arts festival – went on hiatus this year as organisers attempt to take stock of changing conditions and rising costs. Two of its flagship events – the Winter Feast and Nude Solstice Swim – will go ahead.

Dark Mofo in Hobart is on hiatus.Credit: Christopher Pearce

Not every festival is suffering. Noble said Bluesfest ticket sales were “batting better” than last year’s figures, which were down about 30 per cent. He hopes for 80,000 attendees over the five-day event, headlined this year by Tom Jones and Jack Johnson. That would be about 20 per cent fewer than in the Bluesfest glory days before COVID.

Noble blames the string of recent high-profile festival failures on interest rate rises, and said the Reserve Bank has “done a number” on the music industry.

“Festivals seem to be slightly on the nose. But when interest rates drop and people find that they have some money in their pocket, it’ll be fine,” he said.

“I really caution anyone who says the festival industry is over. Of course it isn’t, but certain aspects of it or certain events are having real difficulty. And I think the biggest difficulty is trying to sell a ticket to someone under the age of 35.”

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