The Splendour in the Grass 2024 music festival has been cancelled.
Australian superstar Kylie Minogue was due to hit the stage, along with G Flip, Turnstile, Tash Sultana, Tones and I, Arcade Fire and others. Splendour is the latest music festival to cancel for the year, with regional touring festival Groovin’ The Moo also canning their event.
It follows a similar series of cancellations, including the 2024 edition of Falls Festival, ValleyWays, Coastal Jam and Vintage Vibes, and the “pausing” of Hobart’s iconic Dark Mofo for 2024.
UniSA Lecturer in Creative Industries Dr Sam Whiting said even Australia’s queen of pop, Kylie Minogue, could not rescue Australia’s festival sector from ongoing woes.
“The wages, housing and cost-of-living crises are hitting young people hardest, so it is unsurprising that they are cutting back on expenses such as festival tickets,“ he said.
“Further, following several years of disruption and supply-chain issues, festival promoters are cash-strapped and reliant on cash-flow from early ticket sales to secure events and maintain confidence.
“Without high demand for tickets from the outset, promoters are not going to shoulder the additional risk of running these events below capacity.“
Additionally, streaming and other changes to music consumption habits have changed the way young people engage with music.
A multi-stage, multi-genre festival is not as appealing as an immersive experience focussed on one genre or a closely curated group of acts. While genre specific festivals and smaller, boutique festivals continue to do well, the ‘something-for-everyone’ models of Splendour, Groovin’ the Moo, and previously Big Day Out are losing their popularity.
“A lineup as eclectic as Splendour’s recent announcement unfortunately no longer provokes the same level of demand it once did, as young people and audiences no longer access new music via radio or other mainstream media outlets or broadcasters, usually catering to a broad and diverse audience,“ Dr Whiting said.
“Tastes are at once both more mainstream and more niche, flattening out middle-ground audiences and pushing them to each end of the cultural consumption spectrum.
“Beyond changing audience behaviours, the Australian events and festival sectors have been impacted by increasingly severe weather events (exacerbated by climate change), the tyranny of distance for international acts (and huge costs associated with travel), skyrocketing public liability insurance (which is affecting small venues and major festivals alike), and a depreciating Australian dollar that can’t compete with American and European markets. All of which is producing a serious crisis not only for festivals, but for the live music sector at large.”
