Byron Shire-ites loved it and hated it, but we got used to having it around and it became part of the Byron Shire landscape, but this morning organisers Secret Sounds have announced that there will be no 2023/2024 Falls Festival over the new year period.
The festival, which started in 1993 with a small one-day concert held in Lorne, Victoria, attracted nearly 11,000 people.
In 1995, the event adopted a two-day format and an additional event was added in 2023 at Marion Bay, Tasmania.
Byron began in 2013
The Byron edition of the event was introduced in 2013 and ran in the same week, with artists being exchanged between locations.
In 2019, the festival at the Lorne site was cancelled due to extreme bushfire risk during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. All editions of the festivals in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
In 2021, the Marion Bay edition of the festival was cancelled permanently. In March 2023 Secret Sounds placed the 273 hectare Marion Bay property that hosted the Tasmanian festival on the market.
This morning Secret Sounds have announced that: ‘After an impressive 28 years ringing in the New Year with some of the world’s biggest acts, the Falls team are today switching on their OOOs and taking this New Year’s season off to rest, recover and recalibrate.’
Unprecedented change
Secret Sounds Co-CEO and Falls producer Jessica Ducrou said the past few years has seen unprecedented change in the live music space, both front of house and behind the scenes. ‘While Falls’ reboot in 2022/23 was full of amazing moments and we were thrilled to reconnect with our Falls Fam, our team needs a break, so this year we’ll take time off to enjoy the holiday period and allow some space to re-imagine how Falls will look in the future.
‘We send huge love and appreciation to all our patrons for their ongoing support and for the great vibes they brought to the 2022/23 events. You really are the heart and soul of Falls and we look forward to updating you with our plans when the time is right.
Love and thanks to the Falls team
‘We also want to send our love and thanks to our extended Falls team including staff, contractors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, suppliers, stakeholders and key agencies that we work with each year, for their enduring passion, dedication and support,’ she said.
Music lovers will have to wait to find out what the future holds for Falls.
The USA $B1 anual income Corp. Live Nation owns the controlling share of the Falls Festivals and Splendour, sold to Live Nation by the local Secret Sounds owners. The USA Corp Live Nation, as the majority owner, will ultimately decide what happens and what product they put on their stages. Outsourcing Australia’s live music culture to a USA corporation.