In yet another devastating blow to the live music industry, the Grapevine Gathering festival has been cancelled just four days from starting after the NSW government introduced new restrictions that banned singing and dancing at events.
The festival, set to take place on Saturday, January 15 at Roche Estate, was expected to host approximately 16, 000 people, and featured acts like Peking Duk, Vera Blue and The Veronicas, as well as comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed.
Festival organisers labelled the cancellation an “incredibly sad day for live music” and in a statement released today, said they are “deeply sorry this news has come at the final hour.”
“Grapevine Gathering NSW has had an approved COVIDsafe plan for months and we have been in constant communication with the NSW government regarding all required safety measures.”
“The recent public health order announcement still allowed for planned major events to proceed and the advice given up until this point was that our event was still compliant.”
Organisers said that while it was a “devastating blow” to live music, the new public health orders that prompted its cancellation have also been detrimental to regional tourism.
“A projected loss of over 5.2 million to the greater Hunter Valley region is expected from this cancellation.”
“Over 1400 jobs are now lost across our artists, food vendors, security, production crew, ticketing staff and more who were deep in preparation for the weekend,” the statement said.
While organisers said all ticket holders will be entitled to a refund, they are working through next steps and will be in touch with ticket holders as soon as possible.
The Grapevine Gathering had already been postponed once due to state lockdowns, border closures and broader uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event’s second cancellation has renewed calls for the federal government to introduce a scheme to protect events from COVID cancellations, and to allow organisers access to pandemic- related event insurance.
A report by Live Performance Australia showed that in 2020, following the onset of COVID-19, contemporary music festivals suffered a staggering 70 per cent loss in both attendance and revenue compared to 2019.
For the broader live music industry, COVID-19 wiped $1.4 billion from the industry in 2020 alone, with the industry suffering a 70 per cent decline in revenue from 2019.
Maia O’Connor