Covid lockdowns kill off Bigsound festival

Bigsound Performance: Loose Tooth

Melbourne’s snap lockdown, the extension of Greater Sydney’s lockdown, the growing COVID outbreaks, and increasing restrictions that are in effect across Australia have made it painfully clear the much-loved conference and new music festival cannot responsibly take to the stage.

“Without our music mates in New South Wales and Victoria and no certain timeline as to when domestic borders will remain open, Bigsound 2021 wouldn’t be able to deliver on its promise to reunite the music community for three extraordinary days of connection, conversation, and music discovery,” said QMusic CEO, Kris Stewart.

“As 2021 marks Bigsound’s 20th anniversary, we are committed to coming through the unpredictable and relentless nature of COVID to celebrate this significant milestone with something special later this year, so watch this space for more to be revealed in the coming months.”

The Bigsound team has begun work immediately on a 2022 event to bring the industry together on the other side of this difficult time, hopefully with international friends and colleagues able to join.

In an important step forward, Little Blaksound, a 100% First Nations youth-led music conference presented by Digi Youth Arts (DYA), will proceed on September 6 to shine a light on Blak excellence and provide a much-needed space for the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and arts leaders.

All Bigsound 2021 ticket holders and artist application fees will be refunded in the coming weeks.

Bigsound is produced by QMusic and supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Australian Government through the Australia Council, and APRA AMCOS.