After all the excitement that Bluesfest was actually going ahead in 2021, the NSW Minister for Health has now signed a public health order cancelling the festival that was planned for the Easter long weekend.
This is the second year in a row the Byron Bay Bluesfest music festival has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in another huge blow for the Australian live music industry.
Less than 24 hours out from the kick off time tomorrow (April 1st), the Minister for Health Brad Hazzard has canned the event and voided 15,000 tickets.
He said in a statement: “While the cancellation of Bluesfest is disappointing for music lovers and the local community, I hope that ticket holders would support Bluesfest and hold on to their tickets as I understand Bluesfest will be working on a new date as soon as possible.”
The announcement comes after a new locally acquired case was discovered in the Byron Bay area overnight, resulting in an array of new restrictions in the area and now the shock cancellation of the festival.
The Bluesfest team lead by Peter Noble took the gutsy risk to go ahead with the planned festival, a ginormous feat when you’re up against an everchanging virus and the Goverment. And we could not be more thankful for their efforts. We send all our support to the gang over at Bluesfest and the live music industry as a whole, as well as all the artists who were set to perform and ticket holders who’ve just had another great gig pulled out from under them.
Now is the time for the Australian public to get behind the live music industry and support the struggling sector that has faced blow after blow during the past year, seeing a harsh treatment from governments around Australia, especially when you compare to other industries such as sport.
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Ticket holders, stay tuned for more updates on what this all means.
You can read more about this topic over at the Live Music Observer.
