Falls Canned For 2023

Falls Festival is taking a break – the beloved music event won’t be taking place this December / January 2024.

The shock announcement landed this morning. After this year’s event hosted the likes of Arctic Monkeys, CHVRCHES, The Wiggles, PinkPantheress, Amyl & The Sniffers, Spacey Jane, and many more, festival organisers are now taking a year off.

Last year’s Victorian leg of the event was supposed to move to Birregurra, in the Otways region of Victoria, which became logistically impossible following the filing of a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) case appealing against the Colac Shire Otway Council's issuing of planning approvals for the festival.

While the case wasn’t heard until February/March of this year, Falls had no choice but to move its event. And so, Falls Downtown Melbourne was born at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Falls faced other challenges, including two years of postponed festivals due to Covid-19 lockdowns and a 2019 event in Lorne cancelled due to insurmountable bushfire risk.

“The past few years has seen unprecedented change in the live music space, both front of house and behind the scenes,” Secret Sounds co-CEO and Falls producer Jessica Ducrou said in a statement. “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.”

Ducrou added, “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.”

Check out The Music's Falls 2022/2023 reviews at Byron Bay and Melbourne.