In a huge blow to the Australian music scene, music and arts festival Splendour In The Grass has reportedly been cancelled for 2024.
Splendour In The Grass confirmed the sad news in a statement shared to their official Facebook page.
“With a heavy heart, we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendor In The Grass 2024, originally scheduled from Friday July 19 to Sunday July 21 in Ngarindjin/ North Byron Parklands,” the statement began.
“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events, we’ll be taking the year off.
“Ticket holders will be refunded automatically by Moshtix. We thank you for your understanding and will be working hard to be back in future years.”
The co-CEOs of Secret Sounds Jessica Duscrou and Paul Piticco also made a statement.
“We’re heartbroken to be missing a year especially after more than two decades in operation,” they said.
“This festival has always been a huge community effort, and we’d like to thank everyone for their support and overall faith. We hope to be back in the future.”
The page also shared sweet images of “a few people behind the institution that is Splendour In The Grass”.
The beloved music festival only just released its 2024 lineup on March 12, which included queen Kylie Minogue as the headliner along with G-Flip, Arcade Fire, Tash Sultana, Omar Apollo, Viagra Boys and Kita Alexander, just to name a few.
Splendour in the Grass has been running since 2001, and has become the biggest music festival in the Australian calendar. Held in northern NSW each July, it’s seen some of the biggest local and international acts take to the stage, including Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, Outkast, Lorde, Tame Impala, Flume, and The Killers.
Running over three days, the festival encourages its patrons to camp, making the festival an experience like no other.
Splendour’s cancellation is the latest in a string of music festivals being ditched. Most recently, Groovin’ In The Moo pulled the plug due to a lack of sales.
More to come.
What if I’ve already bought Splendour In The Grass tickets?
If you’ve already bought tickets to Splendour In The Grass, don’t stress!
Splendour In The Grass has confirmed that people who have bought tickets to this year’s festival will recieve an automatic refund.
Plus, according to Australian Consumer Law, ticketholders have every right to a refund.
“If you buy a ticket to a festival and the event is either cancelled, or has a major change (such as a headlining act will not perform, or the date or venue changes), you are entitled to a refund of the ticket,” the Australian Competition And Consumer Commission (ACCC) says.
“This is regardless of whether the terms and conditions say so. Just like any other purchase, hold on to your receipts and purchase details. If something goes wrong, speak to the ticketing agent first.”
We have no doubt that Splendour In The Grass organisers and festival promoter Live Nation will be in touch to punters who have bought tickets as soon as possible.
What does this mean for Splendour In The Grass 2025?
Honestly, I don’t think anyone really knows for sure. However, if Splendour’s official statement is anything to go by, the organisers want to do everything in their power to be back for 2025. Fingers and toes crossed!
Undoubtedly, live music is going through a hard patch right now. Not only have music festivals like Groovin’ In The Moo been cancelled due to lack of ticket sales but in recent years, Aussie festivals have struggled to go ahead due to extreme weather and COVID-19 as well as coming up against increasingly strict state legislation around policing.
Here’s to hoping that by 2025, Splendour will be back in action. Until then, we’ll keep you posted when more news comes out.
