{"id":536903,"date":"2026-03-13T03:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536903\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T03:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:18:12","slug":"byron-bays-famous-bluesfest-cancelled-with-less-than-three-weeks-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536903\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Bay’s famous Bluesfest cancelled with less than three weeks’ notice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Byron Bay’s famous Bluesfest has been cancelled, less than three weeks before it was due to begin.<\/p>\n

In a statement released online, organisers said they were “deeply sorry” to share the news.<\/p>\n

“This is an incredibly difficult decision, and we are so proud of everything Bluesfest has achieved … and the community that has grown around the festival over the past three decades,” they said.<\/p>\n

“Rising production, logistics, insurance and touring costs, combined with a challenging environment for major live events, mean it is no longer possible to deliver the festival to the standard our audiences, artists and partners expect.”<\/p>\n

The statement said a liquidator had been appointed to manage all financial matters, and ticketholders would be contacted directly with information about the claims process and any potential refund arrangements.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Byron Bay’s Bluesfest was due to start on April 2 but has been cancelled. (Supplied: Dave kan)<\/p>\n

]<\/p>\n

The music festival, which began in 1990, has played host to some of the world’s biggest stars including Bob Dylan, Midnight Oil and R.E.M.<\/p>\n

This year’s event was scheduled to run from April 2\u20135, with Split Enz and local hardcore heroes Parkway Drive the headline acts.<\/p>\n

\"vintage<\/p>\n

Split Enz were due to kick off their Australian tour at Bluesfest before playing arenas in May. (Supplied: Live Nation)<\/p>\n

More than 100,000 people passed though the gates last year, but some left angry at Bluesfest founder Peter Noble after he backflipped on his announcement<\/a> that 2025 would be the festival’s final year.<\/p>\n

The event was also hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, with the festivals planned for 2020 and 2021 called off<\/a> at short notice by the NSW government.<\/p>\n

\"Bluesfest<\/p>\n

Peter Noble had marketed the 2025 Bluesfest as the last. (Supplied: Bluesfest)<\/p>\n

The cancellation of Bluesfest will be a blow to the local economy, with a report commissioned by organisers estimating the 2024 event contributed more than $230 million to the NSW economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said it was “very sad news” for the community.<\/p>\n

“Obviously a huge economic loss but also such a big part of the fabric of our community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Very much feeling for all the people involved, obviously very difficult times with all the things that are going on in the world at the moment.<\/p>\n

“Anyone that’s trying to arrange things that involve lots of international travel, with prices going up the way they are and the instability \u2026 I can only imagine it would be very difficult.”<\/p>\n

\"Ash<\/p>\n

Ash Grunwald played Bluesfest 11 times. (Jeremy Story Carter, ABC)<\/p>\n

Australian blues musician Ash Grunwald, who has played at the festival 11 times, described the news as “devastating”.<\/p>\n

“I feel really, really saddened, it was an amazing festival,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It gave [musicians] exposure to all of Australia because everybody went to it, and also because they had amazing international acts, which as a musician was very inspiring to see.<\/p>\n

“The festival has just been an amazing thing for your whole career, and it was for mine, and it really helped to make me.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Byron Bay’s famous Bluesfest has been cancelled, less than three weeks before it was due to begin. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[10968,64,63,159008,2019,161816,266256,134,7766,136,38072],"class_list":["post-536903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-10968","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bluesfest","tag-byron-bay","tag-cancel","tag-easter","tag-entertainment","tag-festival","tag-music","tag-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}