Iconic outdoor music festival Splendour in the Grass cancelled
Music festival Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled, music industry sources say.
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
Several industry sources told this masthead of the cancellation, speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to share confidential information.
As well as Kylie, the line-up included Arcade Fire, Tash Sultana, Tones and I, Confidence Man and Royal Otis. Pre-release tickets went on sale March 14, with general release tickets available from March 21.
Splendour’s official media partner, Triple J, has also confirmed its cancellation. A public statement from organisers has not yet been made, but sources have confirmed that artists have been notified. Music industry figures were reluctant to speak on the record for fear of jeopardising their artists’ relationship with Splendour’s owner, the multinational music giant Live Nation.
Splendour in the Grass became Splendour in the Mud in 2022 after the site was flooded.Credit: Getty Images
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, 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 says. “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. Ticket sales weren’t there, and they didn’t want to walk into a significant loss.”
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Falls Festival, which is run by the same company as Splendour, 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 says Bluesfest ticket sales are “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.
Industry veteran Noble blames the string of recent high-profile festival failures on interest rate rises, saying 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. 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.”
More to come
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