Suffering from a few sketchy years with poor ticket sales and general turmoil with bookings and management, it is looking like the legendary Big Day Out festivals will not go ahead in 2016.
Speaking with ABC reporter Stephanie Corsetti via Twitter, former BDO promoter AJ Maddah has said that due to “the pissweak state of the AUD$ and general availability of bankable headliners I would guess 2017 at earliest.” Maddah stepped down as director/promoter back last year, handing over the reigns to US-based C3 Presents who have had every intention to bring back the festival in future years.
Just last year C3 was bought by American company Live Nation Entertainment, and as the festival is being jerked around like a kid in a bad divorce, its future is looking murkier than ever. Maddah has said that he “doubt[s] it will be back as early as next year, when/if it does come back it will have to be with a BANG.”
But people are still talking about it, so there is hope for all. BDO has a legacy so strong that it would be stupid to allow it to extinguish. Hopefully Live Nation Entertainment know what they’re doing.
If all this talk is making you a little sad, here is a little consolation.
