Good Life Festival Announces Hiatus For 2025
Image: Good Life Presents/Instagram
Good Life is the latest victim of the wave of live music cancellations. The festival announced that it will not return for 2025, citing “rising operational and talent costs”.
Good Life, owned by Mushroom Group, was released in 2010 and is a multi-city day festival exclusively for teenagers. It has held more than 100 events nationally — most recently, last April’s Lost City Festival in Brisbane and Sydney, headlined by US rapper Lil Pump and UK DJ Joel Corry.
In a statement released to social media on Wednesday, the festival told their followers that “this isn’t goodbye,” and that they planned to return in 2026.
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The post continued, “These challenges have made it unfeasible to deliver the world-class line-up and experience that Australian teens have come to expect. Our mission has always been to provide an affordable, drug- and alcohol-free event where young people can safely immerse themselves in live music and entertainment, fostering real connections in an increasingly digital world.”
In the past Good Life has featured major international and Australian acts such as Avicii, The Kid LAROI, Lil Uzi Vert, Macklemore, Havana Brown, Rudimental, Skrillex and A$AP Rocky.
Just another victim of “increasing operational costs”
Good Life’s cancellation is just the latest in a series of music festival cancellations in Australia. Splendour in The Grass and Groovin The Moo both have announced their cancellation for the second year in a row.
Earlier this year in February, Souled Out was cancelled a week before it was scheduled to begin in Melbourne.
“Like many festivals in Australia, we have faced ongoing challenges in the current market,” Souled Out’s statement read.
In a report released last year by arts investment and advisory body Creative Australia, it was found that more than one-third of Australian music festivals were losing money as the sector faced increasing operational costs. The report also found that in the 2022-23 season, only 56 per cent of music festivals were profitable and that the 18-24 audience was no longer the sector’s primary market.
A parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s live music sector, conducted in March, recommended many different ways to help the industry. These included tax offsets, a rebate or voucher scheme in line with programs in certain European countries, and the reduction or elimination of policing costs for festivals.
