Organisers of an iconic outback music festival are planning “one last hurrah” after announcing they have made the heartbreaking decision to pull the plug on the event.
The Birdsville Big Red Bash has been held at the edge of the Simpson Desert in Queensland for the past 13 years, but has battled rising costs, logistical challenges and bad weather, with heavy rain and flooding forcing the cancellation of the 2026 event.
Founder Greg Donovan said on Wednesday that the festival will return from July 6-8 next year with a star-studded line-up including Missy Higgins, Hoodoo Gurus, Leo Sayer, Kate Ceberano, The Living End, Birds of Tokyo, Jessica Mauboy, The Whitlams, Tim Finn, Troy Cassar-Daley and Chocolate Starfish.
However, it will be the last-ever Big Red Bash.
“It breaks my heart to have to walk away from an event that was founded on something so deeply personal to our family – fundraising for juvenile diabetes when our son was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes – but sadly it’s where we’re at,” he said.
It is the latest in a string of festivals that have folded, been postponed or paused amid increased costs, including Byron Bay Bluesfest, OUT 2 LUNCH, Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, and Falls Festival.
The Big Red Bash has welcomed up to 11,000 people each year, becoming something of an annual pilgrimage for music fans across the country.
“I’m not crying, you are,” one wrote on social media after Wednesday’s announcement.
“We were there for the 10th anniversary and we will be there for the last one. Iconic destination, amazing people – nothing like it,” wrote another.
The Baby Animals played at the 2024 festival. Photo: Matt Williams / Big Red Bash
Donovan, whose Outback Music Festival Group also runs the Mundi Mundi Bash at Broken Hill, said his family was “very sad and emotional” that the Big Red Bash was coming to an end, but running the event at the remote site had become too difficult to sustain.
“A lot of our blood, sweat and tears have been spilled on that land. I gambled our family house and all my redundancy payout to make the event happen, and it has been an unexpected but magical journey.
“It will probably sound like a crude analogy, but I feel like it conveys the depth of emotion and how torn we feel to say that calling time on the Big Red Bash feels like having to put down the family dog at the end of its life.”
Although a large amount of floodwater remains at the site, organisers are confident it will have dried up well before the final festival next year.
Those who want to make the final trek will be able to buy tickets from November 12, with full refunds available if the finale also has to be cancelled.
“Many great music festivals have disappeared over the last few years without the opportunity to say goodbye properly by staging a final farewell event,” Donovan said.
“We are very fortunate to be in a position to do that – to go out on our own terms rather than being forced out.”
Outback Music Festival Group will continue to run the Mundi Mundi Bash.
–with AAP
