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Just a day after Splendour in the Grass was cancelled, Byron Bay's five-day Bluesfest has begun.
And while staging a festival after many others in recent months have been mothballed, Bluesfest direct Peter Noble said attendance numbers were still well below pre-COVID levels.
He said he believed international music tours were impacting the local festival industry.
"The whole music industry has become skewed on the Taylor Swifts, Pinks and Ed Sheerans and the money they are generating.
"It is skewing everything to make it look like it's OK."
The annual Splendour in the Grass festival pulled the plug on its 2024 edition on Wednesday, two weeks after the official line-up was announced; the headline act was Kylie Minogue.
Mr Noble said the cancellation was a "tragedy" and called on the government to support the Australian industry.
Star power
Taylor Swift's five performances across Melbourne and Sydney earlier this year are expected to have generated more than $135 million in economy activity.
"We don't want to find that this whole industry is run by multinationals and there's no room for Aussie events," Mr Noble said.
Splendour in the Grass was scheduled for July 19 to 21 at Ngarindjin/North Byron Parklands.
The venue was also home to the Falls Festival, which has also been cancelled.
Like numerous music events nationwide, Splendour has faced challenges in recent times.
It was marred by flooding in 2022 which saw organisers cancel its opening day, while last year's festival failed to sell out.
Bluesfest has also faced its fair share of problems, infamously being forced to shut down a day before the event in 2021 due to a COVID-19 scare.
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Mr Noble said the continued success of Bluesfest was in part due to the older crowd it attracted.
"We are an older demographic and people under 30 statistically have less money than anybody else in our community.
"Most Australian contemporary music events are aimed at those audiences that have the least amount of money."
He said 80,000 people were expected to attend Bluesfest this year, although attendance remained 20 per cent lower than pre-COVID numbers.
According to a study commissioned by the organisers, the event brings more than $200 million into New South Wales and employed 2,100 workers this weekend in addition to 700 performers.
Businesses 'shocked' at Splendour axing
Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce president Matt Williamson acknowledged young people were "thinking twice about spending".
"It wasn't a cheap festival and might not be a luxury everyone can afford," he said.
However with a strong headline act locked in, Mr Williamson thought the festival season looked promising.
"Kylie Minogue was going to be a great drawcard to get the punters back."
Splendour in the Grass gave Byron Bay businesses a much-needed boost during the quieter winter period, he said.
"There's a whole group of people that make a trip up and they stay in town and go into the restaurants, and go to the bar, and they enjoy the whole offer of what Byron's got."
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