In December, Bluesfest director Peter Noble revealed that 2025 might not be the final-ever Bluesfest, despite the festival being advertised as such for months. And during this year’s event, he confirmed the beloved blues and roots festival would return in 2026.

On Saturday (19 April), Noble was joined by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Mandy Nolan of the Greens, who officially launched their Festivals Support Package with a plan to bring much-needed support to keep Australia’s festival scene alive and thriving. The same day, Bluesfest revealed its 2026 festival dates.

Tickets to Bluesfest 2026 are now available, with next year’s event spanning from Thursday, 2 April, to Sunday, 5 April. On Saturday, Early Bird pre-sale tickets exclusive to festival attendees went on sale.

A notice on the festival’s social media pages read, “Please support our festival and guarantee our future by the simple act of buying your ticket at the best possible price at the festival today via the QR codes. Pre-Early Bird sales ends at midnight today.”

Tickets to the festival are now on sale via Moshtix. Bluesfest 2026 promises to be the event’s “biggest and best yet, following major site upgrades” and punters’ overwhelming support in 2025.

In a statement, Noble said of the festival’s 2026 return, “We’ve had the highest attendance of any Australian festival since pre-COVID at 109,000 attendances - the third-biggest event we've done in the history of the festival.... festivals are back.

“We’re the top-selling festival in the country, and we’ve worked hard to get here.” 

Commenting on the support the festival received in 2025, he added, “That support means Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive. 

"It's a clarion call for me. People want this event. People want it to continue.” 

In a December interview, Noble laid out his position, asking what he had to do to save Bluesfest. “Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us?”

“We’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet,” Noble told IQ Magazine. “We’re on the path to selling out, with 89,000 passes sold, and I’m sure we’ll go past 90,000 after [yesterday’s] artist announcement. We’re probably the best-selling festival in Australia at the moment. We’ve been shown that people care about events and culture.”

Reviewing day four of this year’s event (20 April), The Music’s Michael Prebeg wrote, “As the final day of Bluesfest 2025 wraps up, plans are already underway for the 2026 edition.

“Despite some initial concerns about funding and support, the festival plans to continue to bring its vibrant celebration of blues music to fans, remaining an important part of the Australian music festival calendar.”