Harvest Festival faces cancellation as BDO puts the squeeze on

The Harvest Festival was last night revealed to be under major threat this year due to slow sales, despite a strong line-up.

Festival promoter AJ Maddah took to Twitter in the evening, lamenting the state of affairs and suggested that lack of interest, especially in Brisbane, may lead to cancellation of the festival altogether.

He said, “unless we see some kind of sign in the next week we’ll have to consider the worst.” He explained that competition with the Big Day Out line-up (first announced at the end of July) has seen a big drop-off in ticket sales.

“Since BDO announced a very top heavy Harvest-centric line-up (including Blur, Arcade Fire and the Lumineers), sales have died. Which is understandable tbh. As a small boutique festival with emphasis on arts & experience we can’t compete. We’re heartbroken seeing our favourite child get sickly and are doing everything to make it work.”

Although the festival is bigger than ever this year and features what is widely considered a strong line-up – including Massive Attack, Franz Ferdinand, Primus, Goldfrapp and Neutral Milk Hotel – it did not see the same quick sales response as last year from the get-go. A second lineup announcement is scheduled for Thursday, but Maddah is now unsure whether this will go ahead.

Other festivals have also secured big-name acts this season including Yo La Tengo, Dave Matthews Band and Devendra Banhart, and crowd pleasers Arctic Monkeys and The National have their own tours scheduled.