The news of Splendour In The Grass 2024’s shock cancellation has sent a wave of devastation through the Australian music scene, for both the fans of live music, and the artists who perform there. Since the sad announcement, artists such as Kylie Minogue and The Dreggs who were performing at the iconic festival, have expressed their disappointment. Same Kylie, same.
It seems like music festivals in Australia are in a crisis, with yet ANOTHER one being scrapped for this year, following the recent cancellation of Groovin’ The Moo due to a lack of ticket sales.
There’s a tonne of reasons why these festivals are getting cancelled. But there’s even more people who are upset about it.
When the lineup for Splendour 2024 was announced to have Kylie Minogue headlining, we (and tonnes of other Aussies) were pumped.
But just like how the lineup was given to us early (LOL shoutout to that billboard), it has been taken from us even sooner.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share her devastation, Kylie responded below the announcement from the Splendour In The Grass (SITG) social team.
“SITG, this must have been a difficult decision. I was so looking forward to being there and all of us having the best time,” wrote Kylie.
“Oz, I’m looking forward, now more than ever, to be home and playing shows for you.”
SITG, this must have been a difficult decision. 😢 I was so looking forward to being there and all of us having the best time. Oz, I’m looking forward, now more than ever, to be home and playing shows for you.
— Kylie Minogue (@kylieminogue) March 27, 2024
And the “Padam Padam” queen wasn’t the only artist to get on the sad-posting RIP Splendour trend.
Shortly after the bad news dropped, Tones And I took to her Instagram Stories to tell fans that now is the time to show support for the festival industry in Australia.
“It’s pretty sad, as we also lost Groovin The Moo and Falls Festival in the past few years, and we don’t know if it’s going to come back,” she said in a video.
“And I think that it’s important more now than ever to buy tickets to your favourite bands, to live shows, and to go to festivals even if you just love the atmosphere, because these guys aren’t coming back.”
The “Dance Monkey” singer continued to highlight the importance of supporting festivals in order to keep these events pumping in Aus.
“I understand everyone gets so excited when overseas artists come over, and that’s really exciting. But soon we’re really not going to have any festivals left,” she said.
Tones and I also pointed out that no festivals means less overseas acts come over, which will only be a further blow to the live music scene in Australia.
“So do your best to support local artists and local festivals in our own country if you can,” encouraged the singer.
A tonne of other artists also shared statements of support and mourning at the loss of Splendour 2024 on various posts that broke the news of the cancellation.
“Love you Splendour,” commented DJ Hayden James on a post by Triple J.
DJ and producer Alison Wonderland asked: “What is happening?”
Wish we knew Alison. Wish we knew.
Some artists simply shared a slew of heartbroken or crying emojis, such as Cub Sport and Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers.
Aussie folk The Dreggs also commented on the post: “A devastating hit to the Australian music industry.”
Then the duo posted an update to their Instagram Stories, where they announced that they would have also been performing — if the festival was still going ahead.
“Absolutely spewing with this news! Now it’s cancelled we can tell you we were going to be playing the main stage at 4pm on the Saturday afternoon! Hopefully the Australian music scene can recover soon,” posted The Dreggs.
Which seems like the kind of thing that might have been good to include in the lineup so that people are influenced to buy tickets, but whatever.
Politicians such as Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young made statements about Splendour’s cancellation in Parliament, and called for more music and arts funding to save the industry.
And if the politicians weren’t enough, even Australia’s KING made a statement.
That’s right, (un)official leader of Australia, Prank Patrol’s Scott Tweedie shared how much “this sucks”.
“I feel sorry for all the people involved who put on these kick ass events and festivals and are hurting right now… we need you!” Scott wrote.
“We need to dance! We need to celebrate artists!”
Alas, there shall be no dancing. For who could dance on a day of such loss?
RIP Splendour 2024. You will be missed.
[Image: Getty / Instagram]
