“While HAYDAYS won’t be going ahead this year, we’re excited to make Paddock bigger and better than ever!”
Party In The Paddock Crowd (Credit: Mitch Lowe)
Just one year from its debut, organisers have revealed that nascent Hobart/nipaluna festival HAYDAYS will not be returning for a second outing this year.
Vibestown Productions organisers took to social media this week to announce the news to Haydays followers, explaining that they will instead be shifting their focus to the larger Party In The Paddock festival instead.
“Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for the debut of HAYDAYS in Dec 2023,” organisers wrote. “After careful thought, we’ve decided to shift our full attention back to Party In The Paddock for this summer.
“While HAYDAYS won’t be going ahead this year, we’re excited to make Paddock bigger and better than ever!”
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HAYDAYS was first announced in August 2023, with the self-described “large-scale, two-day/night, non-camping music festival” aiming to host a number of local and international acts between the Christmas and New Years Eve period.
Its debut event took place across December 27th and 28th last year, featuring the likes of Foals, PNAU, SBTRKT, The Jungle Giants, Genesis Owusu, and more.
Though no specific reason has been given as to what led to the “careful thought” HAYDAYS undertook ahead of their decision, Party In The Paddock Festival Director Jesse Higgs took to social media this year to confirm the long-running festival’s return amidst “ongoing uncertainty” surrounding the music festival sector.
Noting that Party In The Paddock “will be going full steam ahead” and urging festivalgoers to ““rest assured, it's here to stay”", Higgs also underlined the importance of securing government funding for the festival in order to continue to grow and thrive.
“It’s the most important time in our history, after running this event as a locally owned and operated business for the last twelve years, that we receive more support from the state government,” Higgs said.
The 2025 Party In The Paddock lineup is currently scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, October 15th.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body