The Australian live music circuit has taken another hit with the news that Caloundra Music Festival won’t be making a return.
After the 2024 edition was scrapped, which Tone Deaf told you about earlier this year, organisers have confirmed the popular festival on Caloundra’s King’s Beach has been permanently canceled.
A multi-day annual event on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Caloundra Music Festival is the latest casualty of the so-called “extinction event” which is sweeping through festivals in Australia.
In years past, its three-day lineup would typically stage a mix of A-list homegrown acts, with a smattering of internationals and rising artists, staged at the start of the warmer months and drawing crowds of 30,000 punters.
Busby Marou, Jack River, Wolfmother, Icehouse and Baby Animals have played recent editions and the show has won festival of the year at the Queensland Music Awards.
However, on Tuesday, June 25th, Sunshine Coast Council confirmed it had pulled funding for the show.
“Following the adoption of the 2024-25 Council Budget on June 20, the Caloundra Music Festival will no longer be funded by Council,” reads a statement.
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Those ticketholders who attended the 2023 event “were the lucky last to have experienced a Caloundra Music Festival,” due to a toxic mix of factors.
“Rising costs, falling ticket sales and uncertainty in the music festival industry were felt to be too great a risk in the current climate,” says Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli.
“We recognise that music events are important for our community and Council will continue to deliver smaller events and programs.”
Caloundra is the latest Australian festival to fall by the wayside this year. Splendour in the Grass 2024 was sensationally cancelled at the end of March, despite this year’s edition boasting a lineup headlined by Kylie Minogue.
“We know there were many fans excited for this year’s lineup and all the great artists planning to join us, but due to unexpected events, we’ll be taking the year off.”
New Zealand has also not been immune to major festivals being cancelled, with the popular Splore announcing the demise of its 2025 edition last week.
