Caloundra Music Festival permanently canceled

Australia’s live music circuit has taken another blow with the announcement that the Caloundra Music Festival will not be making a return.

Following the scrapping of the 2024 edition, which Tone Deaf told you about earlier this year, organisers have confirmed that the popular King’s Beach festival in Caloundra has been cancelled for good.

An annual multi-day event on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the Caloundra Music Festival is the latest victim of the so-called “extinction event” sweeping across festivals in Australia.

In the past, its three-day lineup typically featured a mix of top local artists, with a handful of international and emerging artists, staged at the start of the warmer months and drawing crowds of 30,000 punters.

Busby Marou, Jack River, Wolfmother, Icehouse and Baby Animals have performed at recent editions and the show won Festival of the Year at the Queensland Music Awards.

However, on Tuesday June 25, the Sunshine Coast Council confirmed it had withdrawn funding for the show.

“Following the adoption of Council’s 2024-25 budget on June 20, the Caloundra Music Festival will no longer be funded by Council,” read a statement.

Ticket holders who attended the 2023 event “were the last lucky people to experience a Caloundra music festival” due to a toxic mix of factors.

“Rising costs, falling ticket sales and uncertainty in the music festival industry were deemed too great a risk in the current climate,” Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said.

“We recognize that music events are important to our community and the Council will continue to host smaller events and programs.”

Caloundra is the latest Australian festival to be scrapped this year. Splendor in the Grass 2024 was sensationally canceled at the end of March, despite this year’s edition featuring a line-up featuring Kylie Minogue.

“We know there were many fans excited about this year’s lineup and all the big artists were considering joining us, but due to unexpected events we will be taking a year off.”

New Zealand has also not been immune to the cancellation of major festivals, with the popular Splore last week announcing the end of its 2025 edition.

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