PayPal offers refund hope for some Bluesfest ticket holders

PayPal has offered some relief to those who bought tickets to the 2026 Byron Bay Bluesfest, announcing a special refund exception amid the fallout from the music festival’s cancellation and liquidation.

The online payment platform – which was one of Bluesfest’s principal non-bank payment channels – on Monday said it would temporarily relax its refund policies to help some ticket holders get their money back.

“When you purchase tickets using PayPal, you may be eligible for a refund under PayPal’s buyer protection policy if an event is cancelled, or if tickets are fake or do not arrive,” a PayPal spokesperson told this masthead.

“In light of Bluesfest’s sudden cancellation, and to support our customers, PayPal is making a one-time exception to its standard buyer protection eligibility window. PayPal will consider all eligible claims for Bluesfest 2026 (Byron Bay) tickets purchased using PayPal, including those made more than 180 days prior to the dispute.”

Those who purchased Bluesfest tickets using the buy now, pay later service “PayPal pay in 4” should contact PayPal via the “contact us” section on the platform’s website for assistance with their claim, the spokesperson added. This feature was enabled for all Bluesfest tickets and add-ons, allowing punters to divide payments over four interest-free payments over six weeks.

The relaxation of this policy is likely to offer hope to the approximately 10,000 people who spent hundreds of dollars on Bluesfest tickets before its sudden cancellation on March 13. Organisers of the hugely popular Byron Bay music festival shut it down just weeks before its Easter weekend run.

“A liquidator has been appointed to manage all financial matters, including vendor and partner obligations,” Bluesfest director Peter Noble said in a statement following the festival’s cancellation.

Insolvency firm Worrells has been appointed as liquidator of two Bluesfest-related companies.

In a March 13 email to creditors, including some ticket purchasers, Worrells said: “At this stage it seems unlikely that you will be refunded from the liquidation any money, but we will notify you if the position changes”.

This was because tickets were sold via Moshtix, a subcontracted service provider that accepts no responsibility for refunds.

“For this event, Bluesfest used its own merchant facility for payments, so payments were made directly to Bluesfest,” Moshtix said in a statement last week. “Where this occurs, under our terms and conditions of sale, it is the obligation of the event organiser to provide refunds to ticket purchasers and not Moshtix.”

A one-day ticket to this year’s Bluesfest was priced at $257 per adult. Three- and four-day adult passes cost up to $554 and $686, respectively. Then there were those who spent around $112 a night for camping, as well as car parking costs.

Those who used a credit card to buy their ticket may be able to recoup the purchase via their bank.

PayPal has been named by the liquidator as a creditor, with the company listed as being owed $1.73 million in documents filed to ASIC. A second non-bank payment channel, Stripe, was also listed in the same ASIC report as being owed $3.92 million. Stripe has been contacted for comment.

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