Falls Festival cancels its 2020 events in NSW and Victoria
“Given the current status of things and border restrictions in place, it won’t be possible to hold Falls Festival in our regular New Year’s time frame,” said event organisers.
The organisers behind the annual multistate music event Falls Festival have pulled the plug on plans for all-Australian concert line-ups set to take place at the end of the year.
“Falls Festival will no longer be taking place this year,” said organisers in a statement released on Wednesday morning. “In May, as the nation seemed to be moving into recovery mode, we were optimistic about forging ahead and supporting our local industry with an all Aussie edition of Falls Festival.
“We were especially excited to reunite many live music fans, get industry crew back on the job and contribute to the economies of the communities where Falls takes place. However, given the current status of things and border restrictions in place, it won’t be possible to hold Falls Festival in our regular New Year’s time frame.”
Traditionally held concurrently across multiple days in three states with events in Byron Bay (NSW), Lorne (Victoria) and Marion Bay (Tasmania), festival organisers in July announced that the Marion Bay concert would not go ahead.
“During these unprecedented times, and like most industries, we must adjust our business operations to allow us the best opportunity for long term viability,” said organisers in a statement released on July 14.
Falls is only the latest casualty in a horror year for the live performance industry, as the initial spread of COVID-19 — and now, differing public health conditions that vary from state from state — has made planning for large-scale events that rely on interstate travel from attendees and international travel from headline artists just about impossible.
The most recent Falls Festival, held across the New Year’s Eve period between 2019 and 2020, featured headliners such as US pop singer-songwriter Halsey, US indie rock act Vampire Weekend and British electronic music duo Disclosure, as well as Australian acts such as John Farnham, Pnau, Thelma Plum and Baker Boy.
“As we work with government stakeholders and key agencies to get Falls Festival back in the calendar, as always your safety is our priority,” said organisers in the statement released today. “Consider this a raincheck and please know we will be back with more information as it comes to hand. […] To all of our Falls fam, stay well and safe. We hope to be with you all again soon.”
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