Another Australian music festival has been cancelled, with the organizer blaming rising costs and slow ticket sales as a result of the cost of living crisis.
The Caloundra Music Festival, attended by 16,000 people last year, is held annually at Kings Beach on the Sunshine Coast and was scheduled for October 4-6.
The event, which takes place over three days, typically floods the local economy with an estimated $4 million.
However, event organisers, Sunshine Coast Council, said in a statement They have had to ‘pause’ the festival.
Caloundra Music Festival is the latest such event to be cancelled, following Splendor in the Grass, Groovin the Moo and other multi-act shows.
The Caloundra Music Festival attracted 16,000 concertgoers last year. The festival scheduled for October 2024 has been suspended due to increased costs
The organizer posted on Facebook that he was “devastated” to cancel the event.
“The much-loved Caloundra Music Festival (CMF) will take a break in 2024 due to the impact of rising operating costs and cost of living pressures on event ticket sales,” organizers said in a statement.
“It will join the growing list of major music festivals across Australia that have been affected by similar challenges.”
Festival organizers said that, like other festivals across the country, they too had experienced rising costs, including infrastructure, security, surveillance, labor and accommodation.
Sunshine Coast Council also said they have had to deal with the “impact of higher interest rates” on customers, as well as rising rent, food, fuel and energy costs, which has meant people He has very little disposable income left for entertainment.
Sunshine Coast Council Division 2 councilor Terry Landsberg said the annual event is a loss for the area’s local events industry.
“The increasing expense required to provide a safe and entertaining event while trying to keep ticket prices reasonable puts festivals like this in a precarious position,” he said.
‘We needed to make a decision early in the planning process to avoid the possibility of costly cancellation fees.
“Hopefully, conditions will improve and we can recover.”
Festival director Richie Eyles said the event also gave local artists the opportunity to “give themselves a leg up on the festival scene” and share the stage with Australian and international artists.
“The Sunshine Coast has such a vibrant music community and the loss of CMF, along with other events in 2024 such as Groovin the Moo, will be deeply felt,” he said.
The organizer has said that current financial pressures, such as rising food, fuel and rent prices, have affected people’s ability to pay for concert tickets (pictured alongside concertgoers Caloundra Music Festival).
“I encourage people to support other festivals, venues and artists by purchasing tickets often and early.”
Artists set to perform at Caloundra include Empire of the Sun, Missy Higgins and Powderfinger, as well as international artists Arrested Development, New Power Generation and Michael Franti.
Adelle Robinson of the Australian Festivals Association told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that more than 25 music events have been canceled since 2022.
Ms Robinson urged the government to introduce measures such as a government-backed insurance scheme.
Creative Australia’s first Soundcheck report released last week revealed the average cost to host a music festival was $3.9 million.
Additionally, the report says more than a third of Australian music festivals are losing money, citing skyrocketing operating costs, difficult red tape and people aged 10 to 20 not attending events.
Of the 51 Australian music festivals surveyed, more than half made a profit, but 35 per cent had an average loss of $470,000.