Splendour fans sour

THE Splendour in the Grass festival has announced it will not return in 2025, and fans on social media were quick to display their discontent at the first post from festival organisers in almost a year.

In a statement also posted on the event website, organisers apologised for the delay.

“Hey gang, sorry it’s been so quiet, but we had a little holiday … finally,” the statement said.

“The rest of the festival team have still been busy cooking up some awesome new things for music lovers in Australia, but Splendour needs a little more time to recharge, and we won’t be back this year.”

Disappointed audiences made their frustration clear in a rash of strident comments in response.

The last social post from organisers was the cancellation in March 2024 due to rising costs and low ticket sales, as tickets were still being sold.

The festival also rested in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

“Think of it as a breather so we can come back even bigger and better when the time is right. Lots of other huge events on the horizon, so keep an ear to the ground in the coming months. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on,” the festival’s statement said.

Many festival goers expressed the widely held belief that the festival would likely not be returning and mourned the earlier iterations of the event before it became a behemoth.

Majority owned by global giant Live Nation, it remains unclear if Splendour will go the way of other Live Nation takeovers. The parent company is under intense scrutiny regarding its impact across the Australian music industry, as investigated by the ABC’s Four Corners late last year.

After the loss of Bluesfest, the repercussions of losing a second major established festival will be profoundly felt by the region’s economy, the artists, the industry and music lovers.