Jungle Love Festival 2023 Cancelled: 'We Cannot Afford The Risk'

The 2023 edition of Jungle Love Festival has been cancelled.

After launching a GoFundMe last September to help keep the festival going, organises have today pulled the plug on this year’s April event, citing increasing costs.

“The ongoing inflation is driving supplier costs up to amounts that aren't financially feasible for us,” reads a statement on the festival’s website.

“And with the cost of living going up, we understand many people are struggling to justify the expense of a multi-day festival. We're just not seeing the ticket sales we need to be assured that we can pay for the expense of creating a mini-city for three days. 

“Having had many setbacks since 2020 that could have defeated us, we've decided to lay low until better economic times rather than try to fight this uphill battle. We'll be back when we have the confidence that we can make it a success and make the balance sheet work. 

“As a small independent not-for-profit event, our margins are thin, and we can not afford the risk of operating at another loss.”

The boutique event is expected to return next year, although could be delayed until 2025, depending on “when this economy stuff evens out”.

Jungle Love has confirmed that ticketholders will be refunded.

“When we return, we hope you will get behind us with force, purchase tickets early and rally your friends together to do the same,” they added. 

“In the meantime, we hope to hold some fundraiser campouts and smaller events. So keep an eye out for them and make sure you're subscribed to our mailing list so you can be the first to know about the events when they pop up.

“We've also got a GoFundMe running, so if you'd like to support us and donate, please do, as it'll help keep things moving while operating in low-power mode.

“We hope our absence this year highlights the support our industry desperately needs right now. Since we aren't going ahead this year, we hope that those who planned to come will instead pick another festival they would like to attend and buy a ticket for it soon. Take care, until we meet again.”

Last year, the Gootchie-based event, which hosted King Stingray, Budjerah, RVG and stacks more, was postponed due to significant flooding and damage to its event site and the Gympie and Fraser Coast regions.

For more info, head to the Jungle Love website.