The growing list of canceled Australian music festivals has just gotten longer with the sad news that another one has been cancelled.
This time, it’s the former Caloundra Music Festival (CMF), normally held every October on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, that has been discontinued.
The event has previously attracted dozens of top Australian artists including Missy Higgins, Empire Of The Sun, The Veronicas, Spiderbait, Powderfinger, Killing Heidi and Angus and Julia Stone.
Sunshine Coast Council has announced in its 2024-2025 budget that the 17-year-old festival would no longer be funded by the council.
This was the death knell for the event, which had already been struggling with rising costs, lower ticket sales, and general uncertainty in the music business.
CMF now joins Splendor in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, Coastal Jam, Vintage Vibes, Dark Mofo and Valleyways, who have fallen by the wayside this year due to cost of living pressures.
In April, Caloundra festival organizers said they would take a break from their usual October schedule this year, but the council’s withdrawal means the event is over for good.
The annual Caloundra Music Festival on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has been canceled for good. Local artist Ayla is pictured on stage at last year’s festival.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the decision to no longer fund the festival was very difficult and was made with a heavy heart.
“Rising costs, falling ticket sales and uncertainty in the music festival industry are considered too big a risk in the current climate,” Cr Natoli said.
“We recognize that music events are important to our community and the Council will continue to offer smaller events and programs.”
Festival organizers confirmed the sad news online on Tuesday.
“We know this will be a huge disappointment to many people and we can only thank you for your support throughout our CMF journey,” the post read.
‘We encourage you all, wherever possible, to support other venues and festivals by purchasing tickets in advance so that event organizers have the confidence to continue organizing music events.
“The experiences and memories we have shared over the past 17 years will live in our hearts forever.”
Music lovers are pictured at the discontinued Caloundra Music Festival.
Festival organizers also thanked the volunteers who have worked with it over the years, saying they included the “600 incredible people who supported CMF last year, over 1,000 people combined who have supported us since our first event in 2007.
Festival fans were left distraught to hear that the music was over for CMF.
“I’m still in absolute devastation mode hearing we’re losing our festival,” one wrote.
‘It’s the only thing my best friend and I talk about ALL YEAR. It helps us get through 12 months of monotony and struggles.
“When it gets closer, we get excited, we shop, we plan, and we pretend we’re going to eat better in the month leading up to it.”
In February, Groovin the Moo organizers announced that the 2024 festival had been cancelled, just two months before it was set to begin.
Editorial supplied Caloundra Music Festival, Queensland. Photo: instagram. https://www.instagram.com/caloundramusicfestival/?hl=en
The previous event has featured dozens of well-known artists, including Australian rockers Spiderbait (performance pictured).
Splendor in the Grass was due to take place from July 19 to 21 at North Byron Parklands, with Kylie Minogue headlining.
But in March, the 2024 event was canceled just weeks after the schedule was announced, with organizers citing “unexpected events” as the reason for the decision.
The NYE In The Park festival also recently collapsed after it was unable to pay its debts, and the business behind the event went into liquidation.
A statement from the Sunshine Coast Council shed some light on what’s affecting the live music scene in Australia, saying music fans are increasingly choosing to support major artist tours and genre-specific festival programming, rather than more general programs.
This was confirmed by the recent huge tours of Australia by the likes of Taylor Swift, Pink and Fred Again.
CMF had been named the 2023 People’s Choice Award for Festival of the Year by the Queensland Music Awards.