The first major Australian music festival to be cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020 lost its game of chicken on Wednesday and became the first to be cancelled in 2021.
Barely 24 hours from its scheduled start, the pin was pulled on the Byron Bay Bluesfest, which was due to attract 50,000 people over five days, about half of the crowd it would pull in a typical year, and had headliners including Jimmy Barnes, Tash Sultana, The Church and the Teskey Brothers.
The Church’s frontman Steve Kilbey.Credit:James Brickwood
Bluesfest would have been the first major live music event to return to Australia since the pandemic, and its cancellation for a second year in a row will take a huge financial toll on the festival, which was unlikely to have had insurance for the event. It’s also a hit to the broader music industry, which is still struggling to revive after being decimated by lockdown restrictions.
Industry body APRA AMCOS, which represents songwriters and composers, said the cancellation of the festival was devastating.
“This is devastating for Bluesfest and all the artists, crews, managers, promoters and music industry workers who had critical work coming,” the organisation said. “It highlights the urgency for government to partner with industry on an insurance scheme to help create some certainty for live music.”
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced a public health order cancelling the festival about 4pm on Wednesday, following news that a Byron Bay man had tested positive for coronavirus after attending the Byron Beach Hotel on Friday night.
The man had been sitting in the vicinity of the infectious Queensland bachelorette party at the centre of a growing cluster in Brisbane.
The case prompted new restrictions for Byron, Ballina, Tweed and Lismore shires from 5pm on Wednesday, with household gatherings limited to 30 people, venue caps returning to the four-square-metre rule, stand-up drinking banned and masks mandated in retail stores, public indoor settings and on public transport.
Mark Smithers, manager of Australian band The Church, who had been due to play their first show in two years at the festival on Friday, said he was “a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing”.
“The band’s really disappointed they didn’t get to play and we also had to cancel our Gold Coast warm-up show,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of hurting for everyone, including us ... but we all prefer to stay safe.”
Artist Henry Wagons, who has performed at Bluesfest multiple times, said musicians had been looking to the festival as a sign of rebirth for the Australian industry. The cancellation, he said, would rock the confidence.
Musician Henry Wagons said the cancellation of Bluesfest was another blow for the industry.Credit:Simon Schluter
“I was absolutely looking forward to the weekend personally but I particularly feel for the roadies, the managers, the cogs of the industry and the artists that have been displaced throughout 2020, where this was going to be the first opportunity for community ... the first opportunity for a large-scale expression of community, a group couch.
“I was looking forward to seeing everyone in the one place at the one time and saying ‘Wow, how about that’ and this was a case of coming out the other side. Unfortunately, we’ve had another blow. It’s terrible.”
Last year was the first time in the festival’s 31-year history that it had been cancelled. Speaking to this masthead in a music industry roundtable last June, festival director Peter Noble — who has run the event solo since buying out his partners in 2008 — said he had been incredibly lucky to have had insurance that did not include a COVID-19 waiver. “I am reliably advised that my festival was the only one that had pandemic insurance, and we have been primarily paid out by the insurer,” he said, “but I’m never going to get that insurance again.”
Though it was the first festival to be cancelled last March, Bluesfest was also the first to announce its return. The event, which has previously hosted major international acts including Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Ben Harper, Patti Smith and Kendrick Lamar as headliners, this time opted for a fully Australian line-up, as Noble anticipated — correctly — lingering restrictions on international travel.
“There is going to come a time when it becomes obvious that you can’t proceed with your international component,” he said. “At this point in time, there needs to be a sizeable Australian and New Zealand contingent with a back-up plan of what you’re going to do if things don’t open up. It’s that simple.”
Of course, nothing is simple at the moment. In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Bluesfest said the organisation was “heartbroken” and would reschedule the event. Ticket buyers were urged to “support the festival” and hold tickets to the rescheduled event.
“This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to make. We really wanted to be at the forefront of the return of live music at [a] pre-COVID-19 level,” Noble said.
“We feel deeply for everybody affected, the fans, the artists, and the hard-working Bluesfest team. But in the end, the health of our community must come first. We will be having discussions regarding Bluesfest postponement and will update everybody soon. However, this weekend we will be packing down the event that was cancelled within 24 hours of gates due to open.”
Federal opposition spokesman for the arts Tony Burke said the cancellation showed the need for an insurance system for the music industry.
He said in a tweet, “Bluesfest was meant to mark the return of music festivals. The music industry is full of viable profitable businesses unable to function because of public health. Govt has a COVID insurance system for the film industry. Music needs one too. Urgently.”
Martin Boulton is EG Editor at The Age and Shortlist Editor at the Sydney Morning Herald
Karl Quinn is a senior culture writer at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-03-31 07:33:34Z
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