Bluesfest named finalist for ‘Music Festival of the Decade’ by Pollstar

Pollstar has named Bluesfest as a finalist for ‘Music Festival of the Decade’  - the only Australian festival, event or venue to be nominated for this award, which celebrates ‘the most artistically and commercially successful festival of the last decade providing the most rewarding experience for fans and artists’.

Peter Noble, Bluesfest Festival Director notes “after all we have been through since the start of the pandemic, with two cancellations, including one which occurred the day before we were all set and ready to open our gates, it is a pleasure to be offered something positive for Bluesfest… it’s something for our hard-working team to put their heads up and be proud of after all we have been through recently.

“To be nominated alongside Glastonbury Festival, Coachella, Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, Bonnaroo Festival, Lollapalooza USA & Brazil, Austin City Limits and others, is simply up there with the greatest things that has ever happened in my 50 years in the industry.”

The news of this new nomination has firmed Bluesfest’s drive for the future of the festival with Noble adding “we have not rested since the cancellation of Bluesfest 2021. I am in constant daily communication with NSW State Government, and will have more to say regarding the rescheduled Bluesfest event and refunds for the recent cancellation very soon.

“We really look forward to being able to share more information with you at this time, and to see the continued support of our fans in coming back to Bluesfest after having been cancelled by Government Health Order for two years in a row.

“This support we have already seen greatly in your response on social media and in the media – we sincerely thank you.”

Bluesfest already proudly celebrates its title of ‘Australia’s most awarded festival’, having been nominated nine out the last 10 years in the Pollstar Awards USA for ‘Best International Music Festival’ (the missing 10th nomination is for the year that Pollstar did not have the award), and a history of other nominated and awarded International prizes, including:

• Nine nominations at the Pollstar Awards (USA) for International Festival of the Year including for the 30th Anniversary in 2019. Bluesfest is the only Australian festival to be nominated for this award in over a decade.

• Seven wins at the Australian Event Awards, including Australian Event of the Year

• Seven wins at the NSW Tourism Awards for Major Festivals and Events – (5 Gold, 2 Silver)

•  Induction into the NSW Tourism Awards Hall of Fame in 2019 after winning Gold in the NSW Tourism Awards three times in a row

• Five nominations for NSW for Major Festivals & Events at the Australian Tourism Awards (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

• Four wins at the Helpmann Awards for Best Contemporary Music Festival (Ceremony for Australia’s most talented and celebrated performers and industry)

• One win at the Helpmann Awards for Best International Contemporary Concert, for Patti Smith and Her Band’s Australian tour

This week, it was announced that ‘Mad Max Furiosa’ - the next blockbuster starring Chris Hemsworth is set to be 'the biggest film made in NSW'.

It is reported that the film will create 850 local jobs and inject $350 million into the NSW economy.

Comparatively, while Bluesfest 2019 (the last time the festival fully operated) in terms of gross revenue for NSW generated $250.2 million, the festival created 1,386 full-time equivalent (FTE) employment positions in Australia, of which 858 (FTE) were local jobs, ensuring job security for regional NSW.

“Bluesfest has once again demonstrated that Live Music really does bat well against blockbuster movies and we bring in that result EVERY year when we can be allowed to put on the festival” said Noble adding “It is an honour to know that Bluesfest continues to be seen at the top of the music industry by the bible of the Live Music industry worldwide – Pollstar USA, as Australia’s greatest festival, and in the top ten of the worlds’ leading festivals.”

Bluesfest shares this nomination with other world-leading festivals:

• Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin, Texas, USA

• Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tennessee, USA

• Coachella, Indio, California, USA

• Corona Capital Festival, Mexico City, Mexico

• Electric Daisy Carnival, Mexico City, Mexico

• Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, UK

• Lollapalooza Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Lollapalooza Festival, Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, San Francisco, California, USA