Keli Holiday Addresses Cancellation Of 2026 Championships Day Performance

"Apologies all round," Holiday said in response to news of his axed April gig.

Keli Holiday(Credit: Mitch Lowe)

Keli Holiday has cleared the air following the news that he will no longer be performing at the Royal Randwick’s Championships Day this April.

News of Holiday’s withdrawal from the event came on Wednesday, when the Australian Turf Club (ATC) shared a statement to Instagram revealing the gig – originally scheduled for April 4th – had been cancelled.

“Keli Holiday’s management has informed the ATC of his decision to withdraw from the performance,” the Club wrote in their statement. “We will provide further event updates where necessary.”

Initial responses to the news surmised that Holiday’s axing of the show was related to historical comments made by his partner, Abbie Chatfield, in regard to her opposition of the racing industry.

However, in his own comments shared on Instagram Stories overnight, Holiday addressed the cancellation and offered his own explanation as to his reasoning.

“Not playing the races fyi,” he wrote. “The gig was booked in this chaotic end of last year as a result of my miscommunication within my team and wasn’t the fault of ATC. Apologies all round.”

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The axed performance comes in the midst of a hectic few weeks for Holiday, who today releases his debut album, Capital Fiction. The record opens with his viral 2025 single Dancing2, which just last month was voted into the apt position of No. 2 in triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown.

Additionally, Holiday recently appeared on Chatfield’s It’s A Lot podcast to discuss his previous experiences of being “threatened with violence” while out in public.

“Twice in the last week and a half, I’ve been threatened with violence in real life, like, in the street,” Holiday explained. He said that on one occasion, a car drove past and he heard yelling from the driver, “screaming homophobic slurs,” mixed with death threats.

Hyde added that another car followed and started yelling the same. Hyde then explained that, as well as death threats towards him, he and Chatfield have been subjected to additional threats, with some people even knowing their address.

“That’s not a fucking joke; that’s serious shit,” Hyde said. Chatfield discussed the rise in hostile online rhetoric and fascism, with the pair concluding that Hyde has been the subject of harassment “because I love my girlfriend.”

Despite his cancellation of the Championships Day performance, Holiday will be embarking on a national tour in support of his debut album next month. Tickets to those shows are on sale now.