splendour in the grass
Only months after announcing the 2025 edition of Byron Bay’s enduring Bluesfest would be its last, festival director Peter Noble has changed his tune.
The long-running festival has become an institution on the Australian festivals calendar across its 35-year history. Names such as Bob Dylan, BB King, Paul Simon, John Mayer, Mary J Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, plus homegrown stars Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Crowded House, have all performed over the years, with the dizzying lineups also offering chances for rising stars to receive a vital platform.
In August, however, Noble explained that the festival – held annually across the Easter long weekend on Australia’s east coast – would come to a close after one final outing.
“To my Dear Bluesfest Family, and after more than 50 years in the music business, Bluesfest has been a labour of love, a celebration of music, community, and the resilient spirit of our fans,” Noble wrote in a statement.
“But after the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter,” he continued. “As I said earlier this year at Bluesfest 2024, next year’s festival will be happening and it definitely is, but it will be our last.”
News of the festival’s impending demise was another chapter in the ongoing story of the wider festival industry and its struggle to stay afloat. Noble’s announcement arrived only weeks after Splendour in the Grass – another Byron Bay festival and one of Australia’s most prominent musical events – was planned to hold its latest edition prior to an unexpected cancellation.
However, a new interview with Noble has revealed that the festival may be around for some time to come, explaining to IQ Magazine that the decision to call time on the event was an attempt to regain the support of the New South Wales state government.
“August was a time of great disappointment,” Noble told IQ. “We had said to the government ‘Look, we need investment at this time, the cost of living crisis is really affecting events and there are cancellations everywhere’.
“They sent me a Dear John letter saying we’ve decided not to invest in you. During the last 12 years, Bluesfest brought $1.1 billion to our state through inbound tourism. That is a tsunami of gold but it seemingly doesn’t count. The [state government] just wanted to put it in their coffers and not take responsibility for Australia’s great events.”
Noble also pointed to the Australian launch of South by Southwest in Sydney last year, which received sizeable investments from the state government across its first two events.
“So what do we have to do? Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us?” Noble asked. “Are we the long-suffering wife and South by Southwest is the mistress who gets the diamond rings?
“All we’ve asked our state to do is to show us that they care about the most highly awarded event in the history of Australian music. Regardless, I will always find a way for Bluesfest to go forward – that is my job.”
The 2025 edition of Bluesfest is scheduled to take place across the Easter long weekend in April 2025 and features a largely homegrown list of headliners, including Crowded House, Hilltop Hoods, and Vance Joy. A vast array of international names are also present, including Gary Clark Jr., George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Allison Russell, BJ The Chicago Kid, and more.
Per Noble’s claims, his clarion call will potentially result in the “most successful festival yet”.
“We’re on the path to selling out, with 89,000 passes sold and I’m sure we’ll go past 90,000 after [yesterday’s] artist announcement,” he explained. “We’re probably the best-selling festival in Australia at the moment. We’ve been shown that people care about events and culture.”
During its heyday, Bluesfest averaged 85,000 attendees. That figure swelled to 102,000 in 2022, when live music returned from the lockdown years. The most recent show, however, counted fewer than 65,000 attendees.
Noble also revealed he was in the process of booking artists for the 2026 edition of Bluesfest. The fruits of his recent labor will ostensibly be revealed around August/September 2025, as is traditional for the festival’s first lineup announcement.
The 2024 edition of Splendour in the Grass won’t go ahead. “With a heavy heart,” reads a statement from organizers, issued late Wednesday (March 27), “we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendour in the Grass 2024, originally scheduled from Friday 19 July to Sunday 21 July in Ngarindjin / North Byron Parklands.”The surprise announcement comes less than a week after tickets to the three-day camping fest went on sale to the general public. As previously reported, Splendour had booked a healthy lineup featuring Kylie Minogue, Future and Arcade Fire as headliners. Also on the bill for the now-scrapped 2024 edition was Girl In Red, Yeat, Turnstile, G Flip, The Last Dinner Party, Tash Sultana, Fontaines D.C. and many more.“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 statement continues. Established in 2001 and held each year in Byron Bay, a picturesque beach town on the most easterly tip of Australia, Splendour is a destination event, and the most popular mid-winter camping fest in these parts. Splendour, once the hottest ticket on the festivals calendar, has endured a particularly tough run, first with the pandemic, which saw the announced, then shelved several times during the pandemic. Then, in 2022, extreme weather conditions wrecked the first day of Splendour 2022, contributing to softer-than-usual ticket sales for the 2023 edition.
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“We’re heartbroken to be missing a year especially after more than two decades in operation,” reads a joint statement from Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, co-CEOs of Secret Sounds and founders of Splendour. “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.”
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Tickets for Splendour 2024 went on sale from Thursday, March 21 via moshtix.com.au, with the SITG members pre-sale opening March 14. Single day tickets are priced at A$179 (plus fees), three-day tickets are $399 (plus fees), camping tickets cost $159 (plus fees) and the premium “VIP Village VIP” three-day ticket is A$599 (plus fees). Ticket holders will be refunded automatically. Despite the setback, Splendour will return, according to Secret Sounds, an affiliate of Live Nation, which produces the annual event. “We thank you for your understanding,” reads the statement, “and will be working hard to be back in future years.”
Kylie Minogue’s golden year continues with a headlining spot at Splendour in the Grass 2024, Australia’s famous mid-winter camping festival.
The pop superstar will headline the first night of Splendour, slated for Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 21, at Ngarindjin / North Byron Parklands. U.S. hip-hop star Future is the Saturday night headliner, and Canadian alt-rock heroes Arcade Fire top the bill on the third and final night.
Kylie has been spinning around since the release last year of Tension, her 16th studio album. Tension blasted to No. 1 in Australia and the U.K. where it became her ninth leader, and its hit “Padam Padam” cracked the U.K. top 10.
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The party never stopped. Her Las Vegas residency, the More Than Just a Residency show at Voltaire at the Venetian, has been extended through May; she collected her second Grammy Award last month, and the BRITs Global Icon award at the 2024 BRIT Awards in England; she recently signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for live representation in the U.S. and Canada and acting roles worldwide; and last week, she was celebrated with the Icon Award at the Billboard Women in Music event and, separately, joined Madonna on stage during the Queen of Pop’s five-night stand at the Kia Forum.
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Also on the bill for this year’s Splendour is Girl In Red, Yeat, Turnstile, G Flip, The Last Dinner Party, Tash Sultana, Fontaines D.C. and many more.
Established in 2001 and held each year in Byron Bay, a dreamy beach town on the most easterly tip of Australia, Splendour is a destination event. It hasn’t been all-dreamy for organizers Secret Sounds in recent years. The popular event was announced, then shelved several times during the pandemic. Then, in 2022, extreme weather conditions wrecked the first day of Splendour 2022, contributing to softer-than-usual ticket sales for the 2023 edition.
Tickets for Splendour 2024 go on sale from Thursday, March 21 via moshtix.com.au, with the SITG members pre-sale opening March 14. Single day tickets are priced at A$179 (plus fees), three-day tickets are $399 (plus fees), camping tickets cost $159 (plus fees) and the premium “VIP Village VIP” three-day ticket is A$599 (plus fees).
Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, J Balvin, Mumford & Sons and many others are heading to Splendour In The Grass, Australia’s leading mid-year music festival.
Also confirmed to the lineup for this year’s 21st anniversary edition are Flume, Slowthai, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sam Fender, Idles and scores more.
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Splendour returns to its home at Ngarindjin/North Byron Parklands from July 21-23, with tickets to the camping fest going on sale from this Friday (April 14).
For organizers Secret Sounds, part of Live Nation, this year’s event should feel like a return to normal, following a two-year pandemic which saw Splendour scratched from the calendar, and a comeback event in 2022 which was challenged by Mother Nature.
When its 2021 edition was wiped out, organizers shifted gears and used that timeslot to launch Splendour XR, a two-day virtual music festivals featuring more than 50 artist performances. Splendour XR was built alongside Linden Lab, the American digital entertainment developer that’s best known for building Second Life. But it wasn’t the real thing.
The real thing was established in 2001 in Byron Bay, a stunning beach spot on the most eastern point of Australia, a home to surfers, artists and Australia’s counterculture.
Today, Splendour is the only midwinter camping festival of its kind in Australia, and a place where internationals and homegrown performers have been known to test new cuts live for the very first time.
Three-day event tickets for Splendour are priced at A$447.51 (inclusive of booking fees); add A$197.27 for camping. Single day event tickets cost A$202.37.
Visit splendourinthegrass.com for more.
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