Waterbomb splashes into Oz on festival’s world tour

K-pop festival Waterbomb will stage an Australian edition for the first time as it relaunches its international expansion.

The touring series plans to stop in Sydney later this year, picking up on the Waterbomb World Tour that faltered in 2024. Dates and performers will be announced in the coming months.

Waterbomb’s expansion comes after organisers failed to deliver its rapid global expansion last year, after it announced editions in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UAE, Singapore, the US, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The only new editions to go ahead were Hong Kong, the UAE, and Singapore, while the event continued its tour of multiple South Korean and Japanese cities.

The Los Angeles edition was postponed due to “operational challenges” with less than three weeks to go to the event, while the Indonesian debut in Jakarta was delayed in October. Extreme weather and flooding forced the cancellation of the Taipei and Ho Chi Minh events. No new dates have been announced for these editions.

“We’ll return stronger and better prepared to deliver the Waterbomb experience you’ve been waiting for,” said organisers at the time of US cancellation.

In contrast, another Australian festival will not return his year

Four stops are already confirmed for 2025, with plans to return to China, and South Korea, where the Seoul edition has been held annually since the event launched in 2015. The festival will debut in Manila, Philippines and Bali, Indonesia next month, after pushing both countries’ inaugural editions late last year.

Artists due to perform in Manila include Kangdaniel, Dynamic Duo, Sulreggae, Chanyeol, Bambam, Viviz, and other K-pop, hip-hop and dance stars.

Though lineups vary by city, past performers have included Blackpink, aespa, TWICE’s Nayeon, American rapper Jay Park, and SHINEE’s Taemin, and South Korean singers Hwasa, Chung Ha, Bibi, Simon Dominic, and Jessi.

In contrast, the Australian festival Hello Sunshine will not be held this year. The family-friendly event was set to return to Melbourne for its third year and debut on the Gold Coast this March.

Organisers cited low ticket sales and rising production costs as reasons for the cancellation.

Stone Temple Pilots, Smash Mouth, Wolfmother, Kasey Chambers, Rogue Traders, and Drapht were on tap to headline the event.

The cancellation is the latest to hit the Australian festival sector. Last November, the debut edition of You & Me Festival was cancelled for similar reasons. They join several Oz festivals cancelled in the past year, including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, and Return to Rio.

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