Australian Music Festivals: A Nostalgic Look at the Ones We Miss

Artists are devastated after days after tickets went on sale.

It is the latest in a long line of Australian music festival cancellations, as costs surge and ticket sales dwindle.

The annual music festival, which is held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, NSW, was due to be staged from 19 to 21 July.

Just days after tickets went on sale, organisers issued a statement confirming the cancellation, which was due to “unexpected events”. They promised refunds for ticketholders and thanked them for understanding.

Australian pop superstar Kylie Minogue was among the artists set to perform.

The line up was announced on 12 March and also included artists Tash Sultana, Turnstile, Angie McMahon, G-Flip, Yeat, Arcade Fire, Thelma Plum, Future, Middle Kids, Girl in Red, The Dreggs and Baby Gravy.

Folk duo The Dreggs described the festival’s cancellation as “a devastating hit to the Australian music industry” on Triple J’s Instagram post announcing the news.

It follows a series of similar cancellations including the Mornington Peninsula’s Coastal Jam, Camden’s ValleyWays, and Adelaide’s Vintage Vibes.

Here are five other major festivals that have been scrapped or gone on hiatus in recent times.

What happened to Groovin the Moo?

Festival organisers announced in February that they had been forced to cancel the 2024 edition – due to feature the likes of The Kooks, Melanie C, Jet, Mallrat, DMA’s, and King Stingray – due to poor ticket sales.

was set to visit Wayville, Bendigo, Canberra, Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast, and Bunbury over three weeks in April and May.

A crowd cheering. In the background is a large tent and a carnival ride.

Festival-goers at Groovin the Moo, Bunbury, Western Australia, in 2019. Source: Getty / Matt Jelonek/WireImage

“We are extremely disappointed to announce that the Groovin the Moo 2024 tour has been forced to cancel,” organisers said in a statement at the time.

They said they hoped the festival would return “in the future”.

What happened to the Big Day Out?

Australia’s first annual music festival, The Big Day Out reigned supreme as the go-to summer gig for decades.

First staged in Sydney in 1992 with an iconic lineup that featured the likes of Nirvana, the Violent Femmes, and You Am I, the festival soon expanded to Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth – and later the Gold Coast and Auckland.

Over the years it brought high-profile international artists including Pearl Jam, Chemical Brothers, Björk, The Ramones, Foo Fighters, and blink-182 to Australia, and helped to boost the careers of local acts like Silverchair, Powderfinger, Wolfmother, Spiderbait, and Grinspoon.

Snoop Dogg headlined the final edition of the Big Day Out. Source: AAP / Dean Lewis

But its long run wasn’t without controversy – and in 2014, headlining act Blur pulled out just eight weeks before the first show was to be staged, citing “constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organisers”.

The 2014 Big Day Out also had poor ticket sales, with overall attendance figures around half of the 2013 event.

After obtaining full ownership of the festival, American promoters C3 Presents announced .

While C3 kept the door open for the Big Day Out’s return, saying it intended to bring it back “in future years”, there’s been no indication that will happen any time soon.

What happened to Falls Festival?

Starting as a small one-day concert in the Victorian town of Lorne in 1993, Falls went on to become one of the most in-demand tickets in Australia over the New Year’s period.

After expanding to Tasmania’s Marion Bay in 2003, dates were later added in Byron Bay and Fremantle.

The festival managed to bring in major international acts including Jack Johnson, The Dandy Warhpols, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arctic Monkeys, Moby, Public Enemy, London Grammar, The Wombats, Disclosure, and Liam Gallagher.

But in 2019, due to extreme bushfire risk,

Australian band Gang of Youths was among the acts on the performed 2015/16 Falls line-up. Source: Getty / Cassandra Hannagan/WireImage

In 2020 and 2021 all four legs of the festival were scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with organisers making the difficult decision to retire the Marion Bay edition entirely due to low revenue.

After a few difficult years, it was announced in May 2023 that the Falls team would be taking a year off to “rest, recover and recalibrate”.

Organisers are yet to announce plans for 2024/25.

What happened to Homebake?

A festival dedicated entirely to Australian (and occasionally New Zealand) music, Homebake was first staged in 1996.

Over its lifespan, the festival played host to top-tier local talent including Crowded House, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Jebediah, The Living End, Something for Kate, The Vines, Killing Heidi, The Vines, and Gotye.

In 2012, it was announced a “global” edition of Homebake would be staged with US band Blondie leading an otherwise largely Australasian line-up.

Missy Higgins and Paul Kelly performed a duet at the 2007 edition of Homebake in Sydney. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins

Its eventual downfall came a year later when a change of venue and extension of the festival from a one-day event to three days was poorly received by punters.

While organisers said they were hopeful of Homebake’s return in 2014, it’s yet to be resurrected.

What happened to Dark Mofo?

Hobart’s annual midwinter music and arts festival Dark Mofo has been shocking and thrilling to locals and visitors alike since its launch in 2013.

But in 2020, uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic forced organisers to delay their planned program to the next year, to ensure the festival’s long-term survival.

After the cancellation in 2021 of , the boundary-pushing event adopted “safer” programming.

Despite the changing tone of the festival, the 2022 edition of Dark Mofo had record attendance and box office sales.

But it wasn’t enough to stop the festival from , with organisers saying the pause would offer “time and space to set the stage for another decade of darkness”.

Two of its flagship events, the Winter Feast and Nude Solstice Swim will still go ahead in 2024.

With the Australian Associated Press.

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