Australia’s Promise Village axed days after on-sale

A new Australian festival has been cancelled just five days after tickets went on sale.

Promise Village, presented by Triple J, was due to take place on 12 October at Langley Park in Perth with headliners Jorja Smith, J Hus and Headie One.

Festival co-founder Emal Naim told Perth Now that the event was pulled because there weren’t enough ticket sales or local government support.

“It unfortunately didn’t hold up to initial expectations and there was not much support to sustain costs, it just wasn’t feasible anymore,” he said. “We’ve made the decision indefinitely to not return to Perth, we’re scared to.”

Presale tickets went public five days ago while the general sale opened two days ago.

“It unfortunately didn’t hold up to initial expectations and there was not much support to sustain costs, it just wasn’t feasible anymore”

When the event was announced last month, festival co-director Naim said: “R&B as a genre now is as strong as ever, and it’s about time Australia gets a live experience dedicated to it. This has been a long time coming.”

The likes of Uncle Waffles, Headie One, Nemzzz, NSG DBN Gogo, Sarz, Jazmine Nikitta and Sasha Fern were also due to perform at the new festival.

The Promise Village line-up shared many acts with the established festival Promiseland – both of which were co-founded by Naim.

The next edition of the event, which was launched in 2022, is due to take place in October on the Gold Coast.

Naim’s company Festco is also behind Souled Out – a new festival that sold 75,000 tickets across five cities in Australasia for its inaugural edition – and Eden Festival in New Zealand.

The cancellation of Promise Village comes days after the Australian Festivals Association pleaded for “the ongoing war on festivals” to end.

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Australia’s Ability Fest expands to second city

Australia’s Ability Fest is expanding to a second city in 2024, with editions in Melbourne (Victoria) and now Brisbane (Queensland).

The non-profit event – said to be the world’s first annual music festival aimed at normalising disability – raises money for the Dylan Alcott Foundation to help empower young people with disability to achieve their ambitions.

Dylan Alcott, an Australian four-time Paralympic gold medalist, presents the event in collaboration with Untitled Group (Beyond The Valley, Wildlands) and radio station Triple J.

Together, they will hold a fifth edition in Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens/Birrarung Marr in Naarm on 19 October, and launch a new edition in Brisbane’s Victoria Park/Barrambin in Meanjin on 26 October.

“I’m so proud to see the path Ability Fest has already paved for inclusive events across the country”

Ocean Alley, ONEFOUR, Cub Sport, King Stingray, Bag Raiders, Brenn!, jamesjamesjames, Kita Alexander, Asha Jefferies, Eves Karydas, Jordan Brando, Middle Kids, Floodlights and Wax’o Paradiso are among the acts that will perform at one or both of the events.

Each festival has adopted accessible features including Auslan (Australian sign language) interpreters, accessible parking, accessible drop-off and pick-up zones, accessible bathrooms & changing places, elevated viewing platforms, BindiMaps, assistance dog area, designated chill spaces & sensory zones, tactile sensory silent disco and more.

General tickets go on sale at 12 pm AEST on 11 July at $60 (€37) with all proceeds going to the Dylan Alcott Foundation.

To date, Ability Fest has raised over $1M for the foundation, which has helped fund scholarships, mentoring and grants for young people with disability.

“I’m so proud to see the path Ability Fest has already paved for inclusive events across the country,” says Alcott. “First and foremost, our main priority is to create a kick-ass festival that happens to be accessible. And that’s something I think we’ve achieved since launching in 2018.”

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