Bluesfest cancelled for 2021, new festival dates announced for Easter 2022
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18.08.2021

Bluesfest cancelled for 2021, new festival dates announced for Easter 2022

WORDS BY KATE STREADER

Bluesfest will no longer go ahead this October due to the COVID-19 situation in NSW.

It’s been a rough run for Bluesfest which, after being forced to postpone twice in the past four months, has now been cancelled for the second year in a row.

Originally scheduled for April 2021, the festival was pushed back to October as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Now, with New South Wales in a statewide lockdown, the festival organisers have decided to pull the plug on this year’s festival.

What you need to know

  • Bluesfest 2021 has been cancelled
  • The festival will return on Friday April 15 – Monday April 18 2022
  • Most of the acts billed for this year’s festival have signed on for next year’s event

Catch up on the latest music interviews, news and reviews here.

The festival will return in 2022, taking place over the Easter weekend from Friday, April 15 until Monday, April 18.

The majority of the artists billed to play this year’s festival have signed on to play Bluesfest 2022, including the likes of Midnight OilPaul KellyJimmy BarnesPete MurrayKasey ChambersJohn Butler and Xavier Rudd.

A bunch of new acts have also joined the lineup, including Fat Freddy’s DropJosh Teskey and Ash GrunwaldJohn WilliamsonC.W. Stoneking and the return of RocKwiz Live.

Plus, there will be plenty more additions to the all-Australian and New Zealand lineup to come.

“We are a resilient bunch. We have worked so hard since May 2019 to make Bluesfest happen and, guess what, we are not giving up. We are immensely proud of who we are: we are proud of the Bluesfest name and what that represents, immensely proud, and we are already looking forward to Easter,” said Festival Director, Peter Noble OAM.

I thought this decision would be hard to make, but it was the reverse. The safety and protection of our loyal Bluesfesters, our festival staff, our performers, our volunteers, stallholders and suppliers is paramount, and I will not put anyone at risk right now. So the decision to re-schedule was a ‘no-brainer’,” added Noble.

For more information, head to the Bluesfest website.