The immediate future is about to become much clearer for Rabbits Eat Lettuce, a beloved Queensland festival that’s currently wedged in a licence deadlock.
The 16th edition of REL is locked-in for April 17-21 at Cherrabah Resort in Warwick, about 130km south west of Brisbane, with a line-up including Luude, Astrix and Nora En Pure.
Locked-in, but with an asterisk.
Despite a “squeaky clean” event in 2024, REL founder and organiser Erik Lamir tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ, the Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) recently refused to process the 2025 permit, effectively blocking the show.
Earlier, with council balanced 4-4 on a vote, the town’s mayor had the tie-break and moved against REL. Lamir and his team lodged an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court, which they are pursuing, and separately entered a permit for a Temporary Entertainment Event Permit.
The fate of that permit could be decided when councillors meet Wednesday, March 19.
“At this stage we don’t know if the event’s going to happen or not. We had to pause ticket sales, which were going really well,” Lamir explains. “If we get good news, then we’ll be restarting tickets and make some announcements.”
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The council vote was both a surprise and a headache for organisers, whose show last year welcomed 4,000 punters without incident. That 2024 edition, notes Lamir, enjoyed support from Queensland Police, Ambulance and Fire Department, and reported no arrests, ambulance transfers, and was “100% compliant” with its sound conditions.
The 2024 REL festival was also notable for the introduction of pill testing on site. That groundbreaking development made Queensland the first state to do so, with New South Wales and Victoria following suit, and the first camping fest in the country to enable guests to test their illicit drugs for purity.
More than 200 substances were checked, according to data gleaned from the trial, and 14 samples were discarded into the amnesty bin.
An independent economic report found that REL festival injected some $3 million into the local economy over a three-week period, according to a message posted on its socials last week, while approval of the town planning application would have opened-up a potential $10 million annual boost for the region.
In the meantime, the REL organising team is staying positive and hopeful of avoiding the trap door that has caught a slew of festival brands in recent seasons, including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, Souled Out, and, most recently, Esoteric. Byron Bay Bluesfest director Peter Noble has warned of an “extinction event” in the festivals landscape – some shows will survive, but many won’t.
“We’ve got plans in place depending on what the outcome is,” notes Lamir, director of REL Events Pty Ltd, presenters of Rabbits Eat Lettuce. “We’re hoping for the best outcome which would be the license for our venue. We’re prepared for multiple situations, so we’ll see what happens.”
