Falls Festival Melbourne was supposed to be a temporary location. This year's edition of Falls Festival in Victoria will take place at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl after tour promoter Secret Sounds could not secure the Pennyroyal Plains site in Birregurra, Murroon.
The Pennyroyal Plains site isn't too far from Falls's previous Victorian home in Lorne - the 2019 edition of the festival at the site was cancelled due to dangers from the extreme bushfire risks posed by the 2019-2020 bushfires. At this time, it's unclear what the future of Falls Festival in Victoria looks like.
While organisers made the move to Melbourne this year, they've been in talks with the Colac Otway Council to secure a firmer permit for the proposed site in Murroon - the regional locations for Falls are selling points.
However, yesterday, Jessica Ducrou – Falls Festival's producer and Secret Sounds’ co-CEO, issued a statement and revealed that "a small group of objectors opposed the planning permit approval for Falls Birregurra in Murroon, Victoria and applied to the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to put a halt to it".
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She added, "Unfortunately, following initial compulsory mediation, the parties could not achieve a resolution, and a hearing was set for late February-early March next year. Given the time and expense, we have decided to withdraw from the approval process. The festival industry is recovering from the pandemic, and a long, expensive process pursuing this application is something we’ll need to reassess in the new year."
Ducrou stated that the Secret Sounds team had spent two years in negotiations in the permit approval process and received support from the Colac Otway Council and members of the local community.
Chris Potter, Mayor of the Colac Otway Shire, said: "Council approved the issue of a permit for a Falls music festival near Birregurra and was looking forward to the social, cultural and economic benefits that a major event brings to the region.
"We are disappointed that Secret Sounds has had to withdraw from the VCAT process at this time, but [we] look forward to continuing to work with them on future opportunities."
The shock move to Melbourne came earlier this year after a planned move to a new location in Birregurra, in the Otways region of Victoria, 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 event. The hearing wasn't scheduled until February/March 2023, leaving the Falls team with no choice but to move this year's Victorian event.
Falls Festival Downtown Melbourne will feature Arctic Monkeys, Lil Nas X, Peggy Gou, CHVRCHES, Jamie xx and more.
