Big Red Bash to proceed following approval of COVID safety plan

The Birdsville Big Red Bash has become the latest music festival in Australia to have its COVID safety plan approved by government officials, effectively giving it the green light to proceed.

Scheduled to run between July 6-8 in the Simpson Desert, the festival will operate at a 10,000-person capacity, with a 1.3 million square metre open-air site. The lineup currently includes Paul Kelly, Tim Finn, John Williamson, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss, Shannon Noll and Dragon, among others.

Following approval from Queensland Health and Tourism & Events Queensland, Big Red Bash founder Greg Donovan said the specifics of the COVID safety plan will be released closer to the event date so patrons will know exactly what to expect. Updates to the plan could still occur if the state government eases restrictions prior to the event.

In addition to the live music component, additional features such as outdoor film screenings, helicopter flights and camel rides have also been given the tick of approval from state authorities.

“Ticketholders are set to travel to Birdsville from every single state and major capital city in Australia, as well as from hundreds of towns and regions, collectively travelling a total of nearly 50 million km to come together in the middle of our great country,” Donovan said.

“The Big Red Bash is set to become one of the first truly national events since the pandemic began and border closures prevented people from around Australia travelling freely throughout our vast land.”

Approval for Big Red Bash follows a similar green light given to Bluesfest in Byron Bay. The festival is scheduled for April and includes a lineup of Tash Sultana, Jimmy Barnes, Ocean Alley and The Teskey Brothers.