New Aus Music Festival Cancelled Due To COVID Concerns

Recently announced to be the "largest standing music festival to take place in Australia since the COVID pandemic began last year”, Brisbane event Inverted Festival’s inaugural run has been cancelled less than a month out.

Set to take place on May 1 at Metricon Stadium with a line-up that featured Skegss, Spiderbait, The Chats, WAAX, Stand Atlantic and more, organisers have released a statement saying that “the decision is based on concerns surrounding COVID-19 cases in Brisbane” and “the new Health Orders impacting people throughout Queensland, as well as those in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales”.

“The decision has not been made lightly but comes at a time where preparations had commenced to create a festival event for fans, free of zoning restrictions,” the statement said.

“Inverted Festival was ambitious in size and scale, with a goal to become the largest standing music festival in Australia since the pandemic first hit.

“Following the recent last-minute Health Order cancellations of similar large events, it’s evident the production of this large-scale event isn’t flexible enough to cope with the current fluctuating COVID status alerts and uncertainty in the community.

“Full refunds will be available to all Inverted Festival ticketholders. Refunds will be processed automatically through Ticketek, so no further action by ticketholders is not required.”

Last week, Bluesfest was cancelled on the eve of its 2021 event, which the industry described as “devastating” and “watershed moment”.