Punters have come out in support for the team behind the Big Red Bash in Birdsville after it became Australia’s latest festival casualty.

Organisers shared on Thursday morning the festival would be taking “a breather in 2025” – citing that the team behind the massive event in rural Queensland needs “a well deserved break” after being held annually since 2013.

The announcement came just over two months after the team successfully staged this year’s festival in July, headlined by Tina Arena and Jon Stevens.

“As the most remote music festival in the world, building our mini desert city from scratch each year is a massive undertaking,” organisers wrote.

“Our team is ready for a reset and recharge. Just like Glastonbury’s ‘Fallow Year’, we’re taking a pause to come back even stronger.”
“We know this might be a letdown for those planning to attend in 2025 and for businesses in Outback Queensland that benefit from the event. That’s why we wanted to give you plenty of notice.”
Organisers stated the festival would definitely return in 2026 – confirming the dates of July 7th-9th.
Fans from the ‘Bash Community’ were overwhelmingly understanding in their comments. Tamara Atkinson remarked that it was a “great” decision. “Clean your rigs, do some mods or upgrade, invite more friends to the best concert in the bush and see you there, in 2026!” she wrote.

Dee Edney wrote: “Very sad but enjoy your well earned gap year, what you do for the towns, charity’s, music and all of us bashers is amazing.”

The festival responded to fans by thanking them for “all the incredible support and love we’ve received in the last 24 hours” in another post on Facebook issued this morning. “We’ll definitely miss you next year, but we’ll be back stronger and better than ever in 2026!” they wrote.

The Big Red Bash is the latest in a string of long-running Australian festivals which have cancelled this year including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin’ the Moo and Falls Festival. Others such as Spilt Milk have downsized to a smaller “House Party” theme.

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Tone Deaf has reached out to the festival’s organisers for further comment on the cancellation.

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