News March 20, 2025

With a New Venue, Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival Pulls a ‘Rabbit Out of the Hat’

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Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Following a weeks-long licensing impasse, REL will play out at a new site, after securing the necessary permits in quick time.

The Queensland electronic music festival has been stuck in limbo since councillors narrowly voted down the festival during a meeting earlier this month.

Erik Lamir, director of REL Events Pty Ltd, presenters of Rabbits Eat Lettuce, lodged an appeal. And when the Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) this week refused to process REL’s Temporary Event Permit Applications, a pivot.

Announced Thursday afternoon, REL 2025 will now take place this Easter at Crystal Springs, a 3,500-acre property in Stonelands, located in the South Burnett Region, about 260km north-west of Brisbane.

With time counting down, presto.

“Just when it seemed like the magic might fade, Rabbits Eat Lettuce has pulled a rabbit out of the hat once again,” reads a statement, “securing a new venue and event permit in record time.”

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“We are incredibly grateful to the South Burnett for recognizing the value of music & arts cultural events,” Lamir says in a statement, issued Thursday.

The 16th edition is all set for April 17th-21st, with a line-up including Luude, Astrix and Nora En Pure. After a pause on ticket sales when REL was sidelined, the process has restarted. Less than 25% of 4th-tier tickets remain, according to organisers.

“We are beyond excited to bring REL Festival to the beautiful Crystal Springs property at Stonelands,” he adds, “and look forward to welcoming our REL community there in just four weeks’ time.”

The 2024 edition of REL, Lamir told Rolling Stone AU/NZ, was “squeaky clean” and enjoyed support from Queensland Police, Ambulance and Fire Department, and reported no arrests, ambulance transfers, and was “100% compliant” with its sound conditions.

That festival was also notable for the introduction of pill testing on site. That groundbreaking development made Queensland the first state to do so, with New South Wales and Victoria following suit, and the first camping fest in the country to enable guests to test their illicit drugs for purity.

REL avoided the trapdoor that has captured so many other brands, including Souled Out, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo. Peter Noble, director of Byron Bay’s long-running Bluesfest, has described the myriad problems crushing the contemporary music festival industry as an “extinction event” – not everyone will survive, but life will go on and evolve.

In recent months, reads a statement from REL, “Australia has seen several major festivals cancelled due to rising costs, and regulatory hurdles. If we want to keep festival culture alive, we must stand together.”