Splendour in the Grass: Bluesfest boss blames Reserve Bank trends now
The boss of a major music festival has said the Reserve Bank is to blame for the multitude of events that have been forced to cancel this year.
Splendour in the Grass organisers confirmed on Wednesday that this year's festival, due to be held from July 19 to 21 at the North Byron Parklands, had been scrapped.
The festival was cancelled due to 'unexpected events', and headliners included Kylie Minogue and American rapper Future.
Splendour is just the latest in a series of music festivals to get the chop, with Bluesfest owner Peter Noble saying a hike in interest rates had left organisers suffering.
'I just take the position that the Reserve Bank will have done what it's done and I hope not too many businesses have been put out of business - I really think they've done the wrong thing,' he told the Courier Mail.
The boss of a major music festival has said the Reserve Bank is to blame for the multitude of events that have been forced to cancel this year (pictured at Splendour in the Grass 2023)
'You don't walk down the main street of Byron Bay any more and see every shop full. You see 'for lease' signs.
'I just wonder, do we really have to hurt our people that much? Is the Reserve Bank doing something that in the end, really should be scrutinised?'
Interest rates are currently at a 12-year high of 4.35 per and RBA Governor Michele Bullock said it was too early to rule out another rate hike given how high inflation was.
Monthly inflation data showed the consumer price index at 3.4 per cent in January.
Other major festivals like Groovin the Moo and Falls were also canned, with Mr Noble saying the events were like 'canaries in the coalmine'.
Bluesfest is still going ahead and will kick off on Thursday and run until Monday, with acts like Jack Johnson and Matt Corby set to take the stage.
But Mr Noble said unlike in previous years where crowds may have climbed to more than 100,000, between 70,000 to 80,000 were expected at this weekend's event.
He said once interest rates come down the entertainment industry would recover, but added the government needed to ensure they wouldn't
