Image: Nikki Hill performs during Bluesfest 2023. Image:AAPJason O'Brien
Bluesfest 2025 drew 109,000 people, making it the third-largest crowd in the event’s 35-year history. Organisers had marketed the 2025 edition as the “last ever Bluesfest,” which drove a surge in ticket sales.
But on Good Friday, festival goers heard an unexpected announcement.
Loudspeakers told the crowd that tickets for Bluesfest 2026 were already on sale.
“I just thought, ‘We’ve been screwed over,’” Jeff Barnes told ABC News.
Barnes is a local who hadn’t attended in years, but returned for what he thought was the final show.
“Officially this was the last ever Bluesfest and we felt like we had to be a part of it. We just feel like we have been totally betrayed.”
‘Final Bluesfest Festival’ pitch was a sales strategy
Festival Director Peter Noble later confirmed the “final year” message was part of a marketing strategy.
In August 2024, Bluesfest hinted 2025 could be its last. By October, 80 percent of tickets had sold.
“They’re going to sit on that money unless you find a way to make them spend it,” Noble told a federal parliamentary inquiry.
“It’s Taylor Swift coming, it’s Cold Chisel’s tour, or Bluesfest might just be ending.”
Noble said the message helped sell tickets.
“We made very sure underneath that we said, ‘We don’t want this to be the last festival,’ but in the end, that’s the sort of stuff you’ve gotta do nowadays,” he said. “And is that right … [that] people have got to be coerced to spend their money?”
Still, he said the strong turnout helped secure the event’s future. “That support means Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive. People want this event, people want it to continue.”
The Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce welcomed the 2026 return. “These types of events allow businesses to keep their heads above water,” said chamber president Matthew Williamson.
However, transport issues at the 2025 event caused frustration. Byron Shire Council said it will meet with organisers to improve traffic, parking, and pedestrian flow next year.
“It’s very difficult,” said Noble. “We don’t know how to plan if we don’t know what’s happening. People had been warned to book bus tickets and parking ahead of time.”
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