COVID-19 case sees NSW Health Minister cancel Byron Bay Bluesfest

Byron Bay's Bluesfest has been cancelled for the second year running after a local COVID-19 infection was discovered overnight.

Discovery of the case has seen NSW Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard issue a public health order cancelling the planned Bluesfest over the Easter period. The event was supposed to start tomorrow, with organisers expecting up to 15,000 people to attend.

The COVID case has been traced to the Byron Beach Hotel, where an infected person from Brisbane visited on 26th March.

Bluesfest was to have been the first major festival to occur in Australia and possibly the world since the summer of 2019/20. It had a capacity of 16,500 people daily over its five days, with three performance stages, plus camping - operating at approximately 50% of normal capacity and production.

The Bluesfest team has worked day and night for a year to achieve the approved COVID-19 Safety Plan – the first of its kind in the music industry and have been told by the NSW Health that it exceeded other major sporting events in its depth and ability to protect the public.

Bluesfest Director, Peter Noble (pictured above) advised “this is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to make. We really wanted to be at the forefront of the return of live music at Pre-COVID 19 level.

“We feel for everybody affected, the fans, the artists, and the hard working Bluesfest team. But in the end, the health of our community must come first.

“We will be having discussions regarding a Bluesfest postponement and will update everybody soon. However, this weekend we will be packing own the event that was cancelled within 24 hours of gates due to open.

“Please do not come to the festival site.

“To all ticket buyers and music fans, we are hoping that you will support the festival and hold tickets to the rescheduled event.

“All patrons will be contacted by Moshtix directly once we have an update on how to proceed.”

In an earlier statement, NSW Health had acknowledged the event's cancellation was "disappointing" for ticket holders but reiterated that urgent contact tracing was taking place with NSW Health adopting a cautious approach to keep everyone safe.

The statement advised "This action is being taken to minimise the risk of the highly infectious COVID-19 variant of concern being transmitted in the local area, as well as across states and territories.

"Infectious Queensland travellers attended a number of venues in the Byron Bay area and the new locally acquired case was infected at one of these venues."

NSW Health acknowledged the outstanding cooperation of Peter Noble and his organising team, who were working hard to ensure Bluesfest would be conducted in a COVIDSafe manner.

Minister Hazzard noted “while the cancellation of Bluesfest is disappointing for music lovers and the local community, I hope that ticket holders would support Bluesfest and hold on to their tickets as I understand Bluesfest will be working on a new date as soon as possible.”

As of 5pm today, the following rules will apply to the local government areas of Tweed Shire Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council and Lismore City Council:

• Mask wearing will become compulsory on public transport, in retail stores, and in all public indoor settings

• The one person per four square metre rule will apply at all public indoor settings including hospitality venues

• The number of household visitors will be capped at 30 including holiday rental properties.

These restrictions will remain in place until 11:59pm on Monday 5th April, when the community will be updated.

NSW Health urges everyone in NSW, especially in the Tweed, Ballina, Byron and Lismore areas, with even the mildest symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat or runny nose, to come forward immediately for testing, then isolate until they receive a negative result.