Falls Festival producer Secret Sounds cancels 2023 event

Falls Festival producer Secret Sounds has cancelled this year's NYE event to “rest, recover and recalibrate”. The festival had back-to-back years off due to COVID lockdowns and although it returned in 2022, the orgainers advise Falls will be taking 2023 off to re-imagine the multi-day event.

Secret Sounds co-Chief Executive and Falls producer Jessica Ducrou said the team needs a break to consider what the festival looks like in the future and noted that “after an impressive 28 years ringing in the New Year with some of the world’s biggest acts”, the Falls team are taking this New Years’ season off to “rest, recover and recalibrate.”

Ducrou shared “the past few years has seen unprecedented change in the live music space, both front of house and behind the scenes. While Falls’ reboot in 2022/23 was full of amazing moments and we were thrilled to reconnect with our Falls Fam, our team needs a break, so this year we’ll take time off to enjoy the holiday period and allow some space to re-imagine how Falls will look in the future.

“We send huge love and appreciation to all our patrons for their ongoing support and for the great vibes they brought to the 2022/23 events. You really are the heart and soul of Falls and we look forward to updating you with our plans when the time is right.

“We also want to send our love and thanks to our extended Falls team including staff, contractors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, suppliers, stakeholders and key agencies that we work with each year, for their enduring passion, dedication and support.”

The news comes after this year's festival brought the likes of Lil Nas X, PinkPantheress, Arctic Monkeys, The OG Wiggles and more to Byron Bay, Fremantle and downtown Melbourne.

The surprise announcement follows Falls Festival's relocation to inner city Melbourne after it shifted away from its long-held Victorian home in Lorne and ultimately had to withdraw its pitch for a new venue in Birregurra.

At the time Ducrou said it had taken two years of consulting and planning to secure the location but a group of people objecting the festival's plan stalled the process, which would be reconsidered in 2023.

It comes two months out from an impressive line-up due to take the stage at its twin festival Splendour in the Grass including Lizzo, Flume and Mumford & Sons.

Secret Sounds, as organisers of Byron Bay’s Splendour in the Grass, were the target of a public fury last July after torrential rain flooded the grounds of North Byron Parklands, leaving campers stranded in the mud or stuck in a car queue for up to ten hours.

At the time Ducrou apologised in a statement, noting “residents and schoolchildren were frustrated by unusually long queues, made worse by the weather, as Splendour festival goers tried to access their camping accommodation.”

“We had a rigorous planning process in place through the Department of Planning which included council involvement and local committees such as the Local Traffic Committee, Local Emergency Management Committee and a Regulatory Working Group.

“However, we faced an unprecedented weather event, unlike anything we have seen in our 30 years of presenting festivals.”

Ducrou said the organisation had "taken all these learnings onboard to enhance and improve future festivals" and would "gladly comply" with the $100,000 payout undertaking.

Partial refunds were offered to some attendees for the cancelled first day, unused camping tickets, and to cover the cost of bus tickets. Secret Sounds offered attendees of the 2022 festival a discounted price to purchase tickets to this year’s event.