Byron laments loss of festival
Organisers of the Splendour in the Grass festival hope to be back in “future years” after being forced to cancel 2024’s event headlined by Kylie Minogue.
Fans and Byron operators were shocked to hear the mammoth music festival would not go ahead in July just two weeks after tickets went on sale.
“With a heavy heart, we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendour in the Grass 2024, originally scheduled from 19 July to 21 July in Ngarindjin/North Byron Parklands,” a festival statement read. “We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up but due to unexpected events, we’ll be taking the year off. Thank you for your understanding and we’ll be working hard to be back in future years.”
Ticket holders will be refunded automatically by Moshtix.
Festival co-CEOs Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco said: “We’re heartbroken to be missing a year especially after more than two decades in operation. 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.”
Kylie Minogue, Arcade Fire, Future and G-Flip were among headliners for the festival, held at the North Byron Parklands at Yelgun each July. Industry insiders claimed “worryingly slow” ticket sales were responsible.
A three-day standard ticket is $416.92 while a VIP equivalent was $620.82. Day tickets were $192.63 and VIP at $314.82. Camping is an extra $172.24.
Rolling Stone Australia’s chief operating operator, Joel King, said a “perfect storm” led to the shock cancellation: “It’s a wider issue related to cost of living, poor line-up curation, erratic promoters (not in Splendours case), failure to adapt and create a better festival experience, increased logistics costs, hesitation by fans to buy tickets until closer to the event and ‘Splendour in the mud’ last year didn’t help.
Byron’s Hotel Marvell manager James Pearce said he had exclusive-use bookings and events for the Splendour weekend and the axing would ripple through Byron’s economy.