Caloundra Music Festival Cancelled as Council Pulls Funding
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Loading... - Ryker Dube
- 01 Jul 2024
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The Caloundra Music Festival, a major live music event on the Sunshine Coast, has been cancelled following the Sunshine Coast Council's decision to discontinue its funding. The council confirmed on Tuesday that they would no longer support the festival financially, a move that reflects broader trends of rising costs and dwindling ticket sales impacting music festivals worldwide.
"Following the adoption of the 2024-25 Council Budget on June 20, the Caloundra Music Festival will no longer be funded by Council," the council stated. The festival had already been suspended for 2024, with festival director Richie Eyles attributing the decision to economic challenges in an April interview with ABC Sunshine Coast.
"People are doing it tough, disposable income is not there, and ticket sales, concerts, festivals are one of the first things to go," Eyles said. "The only sensible decision we could have made at this point in time was to cancel this year's event because the numbers didn't add up. But let's hope that's not the way it stays."
Established in 2007, the family-friendly festival drew tens of thousands of people to King's Beach each year. However, attendance numbers had been declining, never reaching their pre-COVID peaks. Council documents reveal that just over 13,000 people attended the 2022 festival, compared to almost 33,000 in 2019.
Despite the festival's cancellation, the council emphasized the continued importance of music events for the community and pledged to support smaller events and programs. Over the years, the Caloundra Music Festival hosted a wide range of local and international stars, including chart-toppers like Powderfinger, Missy Higgins, and Jimmy Barnes, as well as cult favorites like Parliament-Funkadelic, Galactic, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
