After releasing their first EP, Australian folk and blues duo the Pierce Brothers stepped onto their first major stage at Bluesfest in 2016, performing for thousands.
“We were pretty much straight off the street, still busking,” Jack Pierce, one half of the duo, recalls. “It was an incredible learning curve for us to have those opportunities.”
Having since performed at the Byron Bay festival six times, its abrupt cancellation on Friday – amid news that a liquidator had been appointed – left the duo “devastated”.
Along with dozens of other acts, hundreds of family stallholders, volunteers, thousands of ticket holders and the local Byron community, the Pierce Brothers must now figure out how to proceed.
Would-be revellers are unlikely to be refunded their more than $23 million in ticket sales.
A 510-page report to be lodged with ASIC by the liquidator of Bluesfest Enterprises outlines the company’s affairs and provides details of all ticket holders for the event.
Many patrons paid between $700 and $2000 for the Easter weekend festival, with some spending $15,000.
In a statement to ticket holders, appointed liquidator Jason Bettles said they could lodge a claim for the money paid to the company.
“At this stage it seems unlikely that you will be refunded from the liquidation any money, but we will notify you if the position changes,” the statement said.
“If you paid the company on a credit or debit card, you may be entitled to have the charge reversed.”
Bluesfest organisers said on their website on Friday that the event’s cancellation was due to “rising production, logistics, insurance and touring costs”.
The festival’s director, Peter Noble, said the decision to pull the plug on the festival was “incredibly difficult”.
Since its inception in 1990, Bluesfest has hosted artists including Bob Dylan, Jimmy Barnes, Santana, Midnight Oil and Kendrick Lamar.
Attendance numbers swelled to about 100,000 last year – up from about 70,000 in 2024 – following an announcement that the 2025 festival would be the last.
Noble admitted that some of Bluesfest’s 2025 attendees may have bought tickets thinking it would be their last chance, saying: “They’re not all here because of that statement by me … some are, I’ll cop to that, but they’re here because they want things like this.”
The 2026 event was scheduled for the Easter long weekend, with Split Enz, Buddy Guy and Parkway Drive among the main attractions.
For Australian musicians such as the Pierce Brothers, the festival offered a huge opportunity to attract more fans and collaborate with other artists and crew.
“We’ve had people that still come to shows and say, ‘Oh, I first saw you at Bluesfest in so-and-so year, and now this is my sixth show’, or ‘ever since I saw you at that Bluesfest, I’ve been coming back whenever you come to Sydney’,” Jack said.
Ballina MP Tamara Smith said the suddenness of the cancellation had left the festival community in shock.
“We’re talking thousands of impacted people, businesses, really, accommodation providers, hotels, right across the board,” Smith said.
It is Byron Bay’s third major festival cancellation in the past five years, following decisions to shutter the Falls Festival and Splendour in the Grass.
“People in our community have seen the closure of live festivals as a trend … that they are becoming harder and harder to be sustained in the community,” Smith said, pointing to the rising cost of security and reduced government funding.
In 2025, the festival generated about $65 million in indirect tourism spending for Byron Bay, $130 million across the Northern Rivers region, and about $230 million in economic activity across NSW, Bluesfest organisers said in a statement.
The NSW government has supported Bluesfest since 2009. The organisation received $500,000 in funding for the 2026 festival, said a source with knowledge of the funding but not authorised to speak publicly.
Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said the continued loss of major cultural institutions in the area was having a massive impact on the local community.
“It’s going to have a devastating impact, and for those businesses that have already put that work in, it’s going to be tough,” Ndiaye said.
“We have the highest density of artistic professionals outside of Sydney or any capital city. There is a thriving arts community, and I don’t think this will change, but we have to work out how to adapt to new circumstances … because it’s so important for the cultural fabric of our community.”
NSW Arts and Music Minister John Graham said on Friday that Bluesfest would be sorely missed.
“[The] sad news reflects the highly challenging environment our festivals are facing and is a stark reminder that we have to keep supporting them where we can.”
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
