Big Day Out festival axed for 2015

Herald online·

25 Jun, 2014 10:50 PM4 mins to read

All Big Day Out music festivals have been cancelled across New Zealand and Australia for 2015, the Herald can confirm.

The American company that owns the festival, C3 Presents, confirmed to the Herald "there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015".

But in a statement, it wasn't the end of the Big Day Out forever.

"C3 Presents is proud to own Big Day Out, one of the most iconic and established festival brands in the world.

"While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015. We love working on BDO and are excited about the future."

The confirmation follows Australian media reports that no venues had been booked for the festival in 2015.

Co-promoter AJ Maddah reportedly stepped down earlier this month and ownership was transferred to the festival's American partners C3 Presents.

The Perth leg of the Big Day Out had already been scrapped after low attendance figures, and losses for this year's event were somewhere between $9-$12 million, the SMH reported.

Sydney Showground's general manager Peter Thorpe told the Sydney Morning Herald the Big Day Out would not be held at the venue in 2015.

"All I know is they cancelled the booking last week and we were told to release the date," he said.

"It's very disappointing for the fans and for us because it's an iconic event."

New Zealand Big Day Out promoter Campbell Smith told nzherald.co.nz he expected the event to return in 2016.

"I love the Big Day. I was distraught in 2012 and I didn't think we would be back. Bringing it back and it was so successful, it reinvigorated me. I'm excited to keep doing it.

"I think to get that show into Western Springs we probably should have done that 10 years ago. We have got it set up nice there so we have got to keep going."

On Twitter, he called 2015 a "hiatus".