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Bluesfest was one of Australia’s oldest and most popular music festivals before it went into administration last week.

PayPal offers refund hope for some Bluesfest ticket holders

The online payment platform has announced it is temporarily relaxing their refund rules to help some ticket holders recoup the money they spent before the festival was unexpectedly cancelled.

  • Nell Geraets and Karl Quinn

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Bluesfest

Bluesfest’s collapse leaves many questions. These six demand immediate answers

Confusion and anger has followed the news that the 2026 festival is off and the companies behind it are in liquidation. But Bluesfest chief Peter Noble has yet to respond.

  • Karl Quinn
The Pierce Brothers

Artists ‘devastated’, ticket holders out of pocket after Bluesfest cancellation

Thousands of revellers are unlikely to be refunded the festival’s more than $23 million in ticket sales, said the liquidator.

  • Kayla Olaya
Bluesfest 2025 proved a hit, attracting a near capacity crowd.

Bluesfest music festival cancelled as organisers appoint liquidator

Organisers of the northern NSW festival said it was “incredibly difficult” to scrap the April event that was to have featured Split Enz and Earth, Wind and Fire.

  • Kayla Olaya and Karl Quinn
Italian singer-songwriter Jovanotti aka Lorenzo Cherubini performs on stage at the Womadelaide festival on his first Australian tour.

The festival that helped us step out of the world, just for a moment

Once the gates opened on this festival of world music, arts and culture, the burdens of the everyday simply fell away.

  • Jessica Nicholas
Public Figures perform at Golden Plains 18.

After the clouds cleared at Golden Plains, it was clear we were all waiting for one thing

This year’s festival was meant to be its coming of age, but a turbulent political cloud hanging over the weekend meant it struggled to get into top gear.

  • Calum Jaspan
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Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi performing at Exit music festival, Serbia, in 2021.

Palestinian DJ ‘heartbroken’ after visa not approved ahead of major music festivals

Sama’ Abdulhadi was due to play at huge events in two states this weekend, expected to attract about 120,000 revellers.

  • Kayla Olaya
Eurovision bound: Australian singer Delta Goodrem.

Delta’s dawn: Australia’s queen of pop is Eurovision-bound

Armed with a dance-disco anthem and three decades of pop pedigree, Delta Goodrem is preparing to step onto the world’s biggest stage.

  • Michael Idato
The Rolling Loud Australia lineup.

Major music festival cancelled 24 hours out from first show

Rolling Loud Australia, the local iteration of “the world’s biggest hip-hop festival”, has pulled the pin less than a day before its first event.

  • Karl Quinn
Chappell Roan performs at Laneway Festival, Flemington Park, February 13.

A ruckus and a proposal as one of the world’s biggest acts hits the Melbourne stage

With a line-up featuring Chappell Roan, Geese, Lucy Dacus, Role Model and Wet Leg, this year’s Laneway Festival took crowds on a fantastical ride.

  • Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen