The Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass has been canceled for 2024, and fans are devastated. Tickets for the festival had just gone on sale on Wednesday, March 20 before the cancellation on Wednesday, March 27. Ticket holders will be refunded automatically, but they still don’t have many specifics on why the festival was canceled so abruptly.
Splendour in the Grass – often referred to simply as “Splendour” – is an annual music festival held at North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales every summer. It began in 2001 and has grown over the years, and this year promised to be bigger than ever before the cancellation. In a statement on social media, promoters said that they “With a heavy heart, we’re announcing the cancellation of Splendour in the Grass 2024, originally scheduled from Friday 19 July to Sunday 21 July in Ngarindjin / North Byron Parklands.”
“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s line-up and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events, we’ll be taking the year off,” the statement went on. “Ticket holders will be refunded automatically by Moshtix. We thank you for your understanding and will be working hard to be back in future years.”
This cancellation is part of a trend, according to a report by News.com.au. It pointed to an address by South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who warned that music festivals were dropping away in the country because of a massive increase in fees and regulations. She argued that this is a bad sign for arts and culture in the country in general.
“This is another festival in a long list that of those that have had to be cancelled by organisers over the last few months,” she said. “Groovin the Moo, Falls Festival, Vintage Vibes, ValleyWays, Coastal Jams, Pitch and of course, Dark Mofo, we know has had trouble. Arts and music is such an important part of what makes life great. It also is an important part of our economy. Thousands of people, because of today’s decision to cancel Splendour in the Grass, will be out of work. Thousands of people will be scratching around thinking how they’re going to pay their bills.”
So far, the festival organizers have not given any further information on this cancellation, though fans are posting pleas all over social media.