The first major Australian music festival to be cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020 lost its game of chicken on Wednesday and became the first to be cancelled in 2021., which was due to attract 50,000 people over five days, about half of the crowd it would pull in a typical year, and had headliners including Jimmy Barnes, Tash Sultana, The Church and the Teskey Brothers.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced a public health order cancelling the festival about 4pm on Wednesday, following news that a Byron Bay man had tested positive for coronavirus after attending the Byron Beach Hotel on Friday night. Mark Smithers, manager of Australian band The Church, who had been due to play their first show in two years at the festival on Friday, said he was “a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing”.“The band’s really disappointed they didn’t get to play and we also had to cancel our Gold Coast warm-up show,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of hurting for everyone, including us ... but we all prefer to stay safe.
“I was looking forward to seeing everyone in the one place at the one time and saying ‘Wow, how about that’ and this was a case of coming out the other side. Unfortunately, we’ve had another blow. It’s terrible.”Last year was the first time in the festival’s 31-year history that it had been cancelled.
Of course, nothing is simple at the moment. In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Bluesfest said the organisation was “heartbroken” and would reschedule the event. Ticket buyers were urged to “support the festival” and hold tickets to the rescheduled event.“This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to make. We really wanted to be at the forefront of the return of live music at [a] pre-COVID-19 level,” Noble said.
theMoop_mb karlkwin Thanks to the nurse and the hen. They’re about to ruin lives.....but that’s ok, they were able to party for an entire f*cking weekend.
theMoop_mb karlkwin It's bad karma to kill the audience!
theMoop_mb karlkwin Steve Kilbey wrote and sang 'Under The Milky Way'. He can't be struggling!!! I remember the first time The Church played Unguarded Moment on Countdown when I was 16 in 1981. There's three things anyone under 50 won't know what I am talking about.