In Bluesfest we trust? The art, and cost, of Peter Noble’s backflip

In the world of music festivals, nothing matters more than trust.

Artists need to know the event they’re committing to will happen. Bookers need to know the artist will turn up in good shape, and play to a standard that justifies their fee. And punters need to know the show for which they’re forking out all that money will actually go ahead.

Peter Noble previously said Bluesfest would be a shadow of its former self if it lingered past 2025.Credit: Joseph Mayers

In recent years, that trust has become increasingly fragile, with postponements, cancellations and collapses undermining confidence all round.

Which is why the comments made by Byron Bay Bluesfest founder Peter Noble this week are so problematic.

Speaking to industry website IQ, Noble indicated he had spoken strategically in August when he said: “After the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter”. It was a response to the NSW government’s refusal to offer his festival help, when it was supporting other events such as South by Southwest with millions.

“So what do we have to do,” he asked rhetorically. “Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us?” The answer, apparently, was yes.

He was already booking acts for the 2026 edition, he told IQ. “I will always find a way for Bluesfest to go forward,” he added. “That is my job.”

He also noted that next year’s event was shaping up as possibly the most successful yet, with almost 90,000 passes sold.

To many in the industry, it all smacked of the old man (Noble is 75) who cried wolf. And at a time when many festivals are doing it so tough that a federal parliamentary inquiry is looking at what can be done to save live music in this country, it left a bad taste in the mouth. Whatever its strategic value to Bluesfest, the contradictory statements do no favours for the sector at large.

But in a lengthy interview with this masthead on Friday, Noble insisted, “I’m not a liar, and I did not do anything, in my opinion, improper”.

When he issued his statement in August, he said, he had been in discussion with the NSW government for months about assistance, without result.

“We had no other option,” he said. “I didn’t know there would be such an incredible outpouring of love for our festival, that people would buy tickets at that level, that the media would say, ‘No, we can’t lose another one’. I didn’t know any of that was going to happen.”

He said the NSW government has offered $500,000 for the coming event, but he was yet to receive it. At any rate, it is way short of what he believes to be reasonable.

“We bring $100 million on average every year into our state,” he said, citing the economic impact modelling he commissioned, and with which he claims the government agrees. “All I’m asking for is 2-3 per cent of that to guarantee me going forward.”

That would equate to $2 million-$3 million. Staging the event costs a little under $20 million a year, which suggests the contribution he’s after is closer to 10-15 per cent of running costs.

A spokesman for the NSW government said it had supported Bluesfest via Destination NSW for the past three years and that would continue for 2025. In September, it announced a Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, “and we encourage Bluesfest to apply for further funding of up to $500,000 to support government-related and operational costs”.

Noble is also seeking federal government assistance to upgrade facilities on the 121-hectare site he owns through his property trust. “If we can get $5 million, we can make a real difference, and we could make our site available to others … and ultimately earn profit.”

On the day he issued his “final curtain” statement, he insisted on Friday, “I absolutely had it in my mind it was the last festival because … the government had said no, the rescue package had been refused … there was just no other way. I was ready to retire.”

That rescue package is still not forthcoming. This year could still be the last, he says. But in the next breath he promises, “if we get through this time, and we will ... we’ll hit our 50th year, and past”.

All of which brings us back to the question of trust.

Perhaps Noble meant it when he said next year’s festival would be the last. And perhaps he meant it when he told IQ he would “always find a way” to keep the event going. And perhaps he meant what he said on Friday when he insisted it would be around to turn 50.

For the sake of live music and major events in this country, let’s hope so. But trust? That’s another matter.

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