New Big Day Out owners advise music festival will not run in 2015

The new sole owners of the Big Day Out (BDO) have confirmed the music festival will not be held next year although they intend to bring it back in the future.

US company C3 Presents, which was yesterday revealed as the new owner of the event, made the announcement today (26th June).

It comes after months of speculation over the future of the long-running festival and revelations yesterday from Sydney Showground and Flemington Racecourse executives that festival organisers had cancelled their 2015 venue bookings.

Last week co-owner AJ Maddah of Soundwave sold his stake in the festival, having only just bought his way into BDO last year.

Speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Showground General Manager Peter Thorpe said festival organisers cancelled their venue booking last week.

Thorpe explained "it's very disappointing for the fans and for us because it's an iconic event."

Helen Marcou, co-founder of Save Live Australia's Music (SLAM), said hundreds of people in the industry would be affected by the decision, stating "there's studios and publicists and printing and everything else that comes with it.

"When there's a big player like that that leaves the market, we see less sideshows so our mid-range venues aren't putting on gigs."

BDO has been a staple in the Australian music festival scene since 1992 when it debuted in Sydney before expanding to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth the following year.

Festivals on Queensland's Gold Coast and in Auckland, New Zealand were added in 1994.

Rumours the festival would be scrapped first emerged last year following poor ticket sales and a loss of between $8 million and $15 million.

The Sydney event, normally scheduled for two days, was reduced to just one.

It had already been confirmed that this year's event was moved from the Claremont Showground to Arena Joondalup after long-running disagreements between BDO organisers, the venue and Claremont Council.

Click here to visit the Big Day Out website.

1st February 2014 - BIG DAY OUT FIRST AT ARENA JOONDALUP

20th September 2013 - BIG DAY OUT LINKS WITH SOUNDWAVE’S AJ MADDAH