Bluesfest fallout: report reveals local businesses among creditors owed millions after event’s cancellation

Small businesses across the Northern Rivers, along with thousands of ticket holders, are collectively owed almost $7.5 million following the collapse of Bluesfest.

A report from liquidators Worrells delivered to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reveals that more than 8,000 creditors have lodged claims against the company, operating under Bluesfest Byron Bay and Bluesfest Enterprises, including $5.8 million in ticket sales.

While many of the affected businesses are based elsewhere in New South Wales and interstate, a number of local operators are also among those left out of pocket. Claims include $15,000 owed to Discovery Parks, $12,000 to Ruby’s on Rajah Airbnb in Ocean Shores, $13,503 to Bun Coffee Byron Bay and $6,462 to Byron Bay homewares store The Dancing Pixie.

Chinderah-based Solo Resource Recovery is also listed among creditors, with a claim of $22,000.

Among the largest creditors are the National Australia Bank, which is owed more than $3 million, security and risk management company Reddawn Australia with a claim of $451,169, and Transport for NSW, which is seeking $222,222.

The amount of money creditors receive depends on the amount Worrells recovers, including from recovering and selling the company’s assets, which were listed at $422,000.

Worrells has previously advised ticket holders that they could lodge claims, but warned that refunds were unlikely given the company’s financial position.

Some patrons have been successful pursuing chargebacks through their banks, credit card providers or financial technology company PayPal instead of relying on the liquidation process.

Bluesfest had been running for 36 years before organisers officially cancelled the 2026 event and placed the festival into voluntary liquidation in March, just three weeks before it was due to be held over the Easter long weekend.

 

The event’s director, Peter Noble, had previously said that 2025 would be the festival’s final year, citing rising production costs, soaring insurance premiums and increasing weather risks.

The announcement led to a surge in ticket sales, but when Noble later revealed the festival would return in 2026, many festivalgoers expressed anger, saying they felt misled.

The cancellation had wider ramifications for the region, with a report commissioned by organisers in 2024 revealing the event brings more than $200 million to the NSW economy.

The long-running festival was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions before making a major comeback in 2022, when it sold around 100,000 tickets.

A number of major Australian festivals have been cancelled in recent years amid rising insurance costs, the expense of securing international artists, weather risks, shifting ticket-buying habits and broader cost-of-living pressures, including the much-loved Splendour in the Grass.