New Owners Of Falls Lorne Site Could Run Festivals

As previously reported by The Music, the Falls Festival site in Lorne has officially sold.

A buyer from NSW bought the 68-hectare (169-acre) farm site for over $2.5 million. The site reportedly had received 20 visits and seven written applications to purchase it, including one interested party from Malaysia. The site, which contains farmland, also has buildings and comes with the original stage.

In 2023, the Lorne site was placed on sale for a guide price of $4 million. It was re-listed in February of this year with a reduced asking price of $2.5 million.

Last month, Jason Hellyer at Ray White Rural confirmed that the rural property had sold. According to a note on Domain, the new owners are reportedly “having discussions” about the future of the property and note interest in “potential hospitality use.”

There have also been talks to potentially run festivals “of a different sort of nature” to Falls, with accommodation and glamping options also on the table.

The real estate agent confirmed that the site sold for $2,625,000 on 10 April 2025.

The Music has reached out to Ray White Rural for further information surrounding the sale.

From 1993 to 2018, Lorne was the Victorian host town for the Falls Festival, accommodating more than 15,000 music lovers at the annual New Year’s three-day festival. The festival has hosted massive names like Iggy Pop, Silverchair, Blondie, Violent Femmes, Jack Johnson, Modest Mouse, Kings Of Leon, Gotye, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Public Enemy, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, and many more.

In 2019, the Lorne event was cancelled due to the horrific 2019-2020 bushfire season's bushfire risk. In 2020 and 2021, all editions of Falls were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.

In 2022, the Victorian edition of the Falls Festival moved to the city amidst issues surrounding planning permits, and was held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. The event hosted big names, including Arctic Monkeys, CHVRCHES, DMA’S, Lil Nas X, Peggy Gou, Spacey Jane, Jamie xx, and others.

Reviewing the festival for The Music, Cyclone Wehner commented that the event “was a surprising success – so much so that it should become permanent.” You can read our full three-day review here.

Falls Festival organisers announced the event would go on hiatus in 2023, and it didn’t return in 2024. So far, there’s no word about whether it will return this year.