The organisers of Deniliquin, NSW music festival Play on the Plains have announced the 2023 event will not be going ahead due to low ticket sales. The festival’s third iteration was scheduled to take place on Saturday, 11th March with a lineup that included Jessica Mauboy, King Stingray, Northeast Party House and Alex Lahey.
Organisers revealed this year’s event has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales, emphasising that Play on the Plains is a community-run and not-for-profit event and it would “not [be] viable” for the festival to “continue and suffer a financial loss.” Ticketholders will be contacted directly with regards to a refund.
Play on the Plains: “It is not viable for the organisation to continue and suffer a financial loss”
“Play on the Plains is such a great event and we’ve been committed to getting it off the ground, but the numbers are just not there,” Chairman Russell Tait said in a statment. “On behalf of the board, staff and artists who have done everything possible to drive ticket sales, we must be realistic and cancel at this point.”
Festival manager Vicky Lowry thanked “the suppliers, artists, staff and volunteers who have worked so hard over the past three years to make Play on the Plains the wonderful party it’s been and, hopefully, we’ll be able to play again sometime down the track.”
Play on the Plains is one of many Australian festivals to pull the pin due to economic circumstances in the last year. In June 2022, organisers of the touring Full Tilt Festival – which was set to take place in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and feature the likes of The Ghost Inside, Underoath, PVRIS and more – was cancelled. In a statement at the time, organisers pointed to “massive price rises” due to “global supply chain issues.”
In August, THIS THAT’s 2022 edition – which was set to take place in Newcastle, NSW and Sandstone Point, Queensland – was also cancelled. Organisers cited “a combination of issues” for its axing, one of which was “difficult economic conditions including ballooning insurance premiums and infrastructure costs.” The following month, in September, Melbourne’s FLOW festival was cancelled, with organisers acknowledging increased infrastructure and production costs, among other issues.
Further Reading
THIS THAT Festival Has Been Cancelled For 2022
