Peter Noble delivers U-turn on Bluesfest future

Bluesfest organiser Peter Noble has performed a U-turn on the fate of the Australian institution, revealing its immediate future is safe amid its best sales yet.

In August, the Byron Bay festival director announced that the event’s 2025 edition would be its “final curtain call”, only to leave the door open for its return just a few weeks later.

Now, Noble tells IQ that his clarion call was largely a ploy to attract the attention of the state government, which he says declined to invest in Bluesfest during a difficult time for the economy.

“August was a time of great disappointment,” explains Noble. “We had said to the government ‘Look, we need investment at this time, the cost of living crisis is really affecting events and there are cancellations everywhere’.

“They sent me a Dear John letter saying we’ve decided not to invest in you. During the last 12 years, Bluesfest brought $1.1 billion to our state through inbound tourism. That is a tsunami of gold but it seemingly doesn’t count. The [state government] just wanted to put it in their coffers and not take responsibility for Australia’s great events.”

“Due to my clarion call, we’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet”

He continues: “Meanwhile, South by Southwest (SXSW) was brought down here and had a lot of money invested in it. And whilst I don’t say that the government doesn’t have the right to invest in imported events, when I see them doing that and not investing in major Australian events, I think that’s wrong.

“So what do we have to do? Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us? Are we the long-suffering wife and South by Southwest is the mistress who gets the diamond rings? All we’ve asked our state to do is to show us that they care about the most highly awarded event in the history of Australian music. Regardless, I will always find a way for Bluesfest to go forward – that is my job.”

As of yesterday, Bluesfest is back in discussions with the government about potential support, which Noble believes is a direct result of the media hubbub around the festival’s future. But while the state government has been slow to act on his call to arms, there has been a groundswell of support from the general public.

“Due to my clarion call, we’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet,” notes Noble. “We’re on the path to selling out, with 89,000 passes sold and I’m sure we’ll go past 90,000 after [yesterday’s] artist announcement. We’re probably the best-selling festival in Australia at the moment. We’ve been shown that people care about events and culture.”

“I think the next move should be that festivals announce at least some of their headline talent for the following year at their current festival”

In fact, Noble is already booking Bluesfest’s 2026 edition and says he currently has around 152 artists on offer.

“I think the next move should be that festivals announce at least some of their headline talent for the following year at their current festival,” he says. “There are 100,000 people on site. That’s your opportunity to sell your next event. Let’s get together as industry and do this. Agents, sell me the talent now for 2026 and I’ll buy it and announce it.”

While the gathering’s future is secure for now, a raft of other Australian festivals are battling for survival. This year has been littered with high-profile casualties such as Splendour in the Grass, Spilt Milk, Harvest Rock, Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.

The sector has been beleaguered with a laundry list of challenges including bushfires, floods, the pandemic, rising insurance costs, the cost-of-living crisis, state regulations and enduring interest rates.

These woes were distilled in a Creative Australia report that revealed that only half of the country’s festivals are profitable. Australia’s House of Representatives has responded to the plight of the festival sector – and the music industry as a whole – with a new inquiry but Noble says the government needs to do more.

“I’m trying to get some degree of an understanding with the new government that festivals have a great cultural value”

“It’s a tragedy seeing Splendour in the Grass and others bite the dust because we need those events,” he says. “The real efforts need to be squarely put in the hands of government. At the federal level, there is $6.6 million for festivals nationally that can be awarded in grants. Put another zero behind that, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Two zeros behind it might actually make a difference and keep our industry working.

“I’m trying to get some degree of an understanding with the new government that festivals have a great cultural value, but underneath that is this great economic stimulus that occurs and the government needs to recognise that in times of difficulty.”

Bluesfest 2025 takes place from 17-20 April 2025 with a line-up including Crowded House, Crowded House, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Ocean Alley, Here Come The Mummies, The California Honeydrops, Taj Farrant, Cimafunk, Neal Francis, Pierce Brothers, WILSN, and 19-Twenty.

A previous version of this article erroneously stated that at the federal level, there is $6.6 billion for festivals nationally. The correct amount is $6.6 million.

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