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A new fund established last year by the NSW Government to keep the state’s live music industry afloat has handed out $2.25 million in emergency support for five music festivals, including Bluesfest which has just wrapped up one of its biggest weekends on record at Byron Bay and looks set to return for 2026.
The fund was established in September last year in the wake of the collapse of major events such as Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, Spilt Milk and Groovin’ the Moo, all of which have fallen victim to rising costs and a contraction of consumer spending.
Bluesfest 2025 headed into the Easter weekend with headline acts such as Chaka Khan, Crowded House, Vance Joy, Toto and Missy Higgins, looking like it was about to join the victims of the industry downturn.
However, Bluesfest organisers have today declared that the event will be back in 2026 after attracting 109,000 people, Bluesfest’s third-biggest attendance figure on record.
Bluesfest director Peter Noble says this was the highest attendance of any Australian festival since before COVID-19 and has declared that “festivals are back”.
“We’re the top-selling festival in the country, and we’ve worked hard to get here,” says Noble, who noted that this year’s event was “overwhelmed” by support from fans and artists who thought this would be the final year for Bluesfest.
“That support means Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive. It's a clarion call for me. People want this event. People want it to continue.”
The NSW Government has revealed that the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund had helped support the latest Bluesfest, along with Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Your and Owls in Wollongong, Listen Out and Field Day in Sydney.
The five music festivals shared in the $2.25 million first round of support from the fund which provides up to $500,000 for each festival.
“The funding we received for Listen Out and Field Day from Sound NSW were lifelines for our business,” says Adelle Robinson, the managing director of event organiser Fuzzy Operations.
“We were seriously considering not moving forward with Field Day as the market was so precarious at the end of last year. A reset with our programming and the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund were the two reasons the show went ahead.”
Olly Arkins, the managing director of Australian Festivals Association, says the NSW fund is responsible for saving some of the state’s “most iconic and most loved festivals”.
“The support provided through Sound NSW has ensured that at a time when festivals were on the brink of collapse, the NSW Government stepped up and said, ‘we’re with you and want to help you continue to thrive’,” says Arkins.
Sound NSW is the government office committed to the growth, development and promotion of contemporary music in NSW.
“Festivals are crucial to a vibrant music ecosystem, not just as an important part of artist career development, but for the wider benefit to our community’s wellbeing, job creation, economic development and social cohesion,” says Emily Collins, the head of Sound NSW.
“The funding is providing critical support to iconic festivals and helping ease the burden of a rapidly changing landscape and supporting businesses while they adapt.”
The NSW Government points to the economic impact that music festivals contribute to the state, highlighting the importance of the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund.
“The post-COVID era has been a financial nightmare for music festivals in NSW,” says John Graham, the NSW Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy.
“The government needed to step in to save the furniture, and the feedback is that this fund has helped some of these festivals survive.
“From Bluesfest where I’ve been this weekend, through to Listen Out and Lost Paradise - people of all ages love the outdoor music festival experience and the artists they discover. We can’t afford to lose that cultural experience because the festivals can’t afford to pay their rising bills.”
The NSW Government says the music festival circuit is critical to the state’s live music industry, especially for local visitor economies in regional areas.
“The festival circuit a vital part of the live music industry which employs almost 15,000 people,” says Graham.
“It’s too important to lose, that’s why we’re backing festivals with emergency funding and reforms that bring down their costs.
“With the lockouts under the previous Liberal government, the pandemic and then the cost-of-living crisis it’s been a really tough time for the music industry. That’s why we’re backing it in any way we can.”
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