In another blow to Australia's music festival scene, it's just been announced that Groovin' the Moo (GTM) has been cancelled for 2024 – only two weeks on from the initial line-up reveal.
The festival was due to kick off in Adelaide in April, followed by massive shows in Canberra, Bendigo, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast and Bunbury. Headliners originally slated to perform included Sporty Spice herself, Mel C, as well as indie rockers The Kooks, electronic producer Mura Masa and GZA from Wu Tang. On the local front, DMAs, Hot Dub Time Machine, The Jungle Giants, Mallrat and San Cisco were also set to appear.
Organisers have singled out poor ticket sales as the major deciding factor in cancelling the festival, which haven't been strong enough to support the costs associated with running the nationally touring event.
"We are extremely disappointed to announce that the Groovin' the Moo 2024 tour has been forced to cancel," said the GTM team. "Ticket sales have not been sufficient to deliver a regional festival of this kind. All tickets will be refunded automatically.
"Thank you to everybody who has supported the festival. We hope to be able to bring Groovin' the Moo back to regional communities in the future."
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The beloved musical extravaganza first began in regional New South Wales in 2005, and quickly established itself as a hugely popular event on the local festival circuit. It ran annually until 2019, and was scrapped in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At this stage, the GTM team remain hopeful the festival will return to regional centres in the future. Watch this space for any further updates.