BRISBANE, Australia — Bluesfest Byron Bay will wave goodbye after its 2025 edition.
The event is an institution in Australia's festival calendar, with performances by the likes of Bob Dylan, BB King, Paul Simon, John Mayer, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar, as well as homegrown stars Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Crowded House. 35 years of its history.
Its place and time are unique, presented every year on the Easter weekend, the last holiday of the warmer months, from its hometown of Byron Bay, the picturesque beach town located at the easternmost point of Australia.
“For my beloved Bluesfest family, and after more than 50 years in the music industry, Bluesfest has been a labor of love, a celebration of music, community and the resilient spirit of our fans,” he writes Peter Noble, Director of the Bluesfest festival.
After the 2025 festival, “as much as it pains me to say this, it's time to close this chapter,” he continues. Next year's festival will be held “for sure”, “but it will be our last”.
Bluesfest is one of the most popular and longest running multi-day shows of its kind in Australia. Its organizers boast a number of domestic and international awards, including several Helpmann and Pollstar trophies.
History obviously means little in a market where the cost-of-living crisis, changing ticketing behavior and a host of other factors are crushing the wider festival business.
No brand is immune.
This year alone has seen a remarkable string of losses including Splendor In The Grass, Groovin The Moo, Spilled Milk, Caloundra Music Festival, Harvest Rock and more.
During its heyday, Bluesfest averaged 85,000 attendees. That number rose to 102,000 in 2022, when live music returned from the lockdown years. The most recent performance, however, drew fewer than 65,000 attendees.
When Bluesfest collected the best festival award at Variety Australia's Live Biz Breakfast in June, Noble, speaking from the podium, delivered a rallying cry for festival organizers in these particularly difficult times.
“We really need to be one as an industry. We need to talk to the government,” he noted. “We have to say that this is the time you support our industry because we are facing an extinction event and this event can be looked at during the COVID era, the government has provided a lot of funding… come to the government. Give us a hand, we don't want a handout. We can overcome this because our industry is worth it.”
The final edition of Bluesfest will be a four-day event, from April 17 to 20, 2025, at the 300-acre Byron Events Farm, approximately 7 miles north of Byron Bay.
The first artist announcement for Bluesfest 2025 will be made next week. “This final edition isn't just the end of an era,” reads a statement, “it's a celebration of everything Bluesfest has stood for over the past 35-plus years – music, community and unforgettable experiences.”
