So that’s it then! Next year’s Bluesfest, the 36th, will be the last. Festival director Peter Noble has announced that this “labour of love, a celebration of music community and the resilient spirit of our fans” has run its course, pulling the plug on a festival which began as a blues and roots event but has become a multi-style autumn staple. The late Sinead O’Connor performing at what was then known as the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival in 2008.
Credit: Kristian Dowling/Getty Images Why? And why now after surviving two devastating cancellations during COVID, one of them on the eve of the 2021 event? There is no explanation in the press release issued by Noble, who says, “as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter”, but there are any number of possibilities. Take your pick. Changing audience tastes when it comes to gig-going, festival-going and buying-in-advance is one factor – especially for a festival that runs four to five days.
Another may be the inability to shift the demographic from an ageing, if cashed-up, audience to a generation that can develop the habit of going, maybe without even needing to know who will be playing. After all, the currency of “legends” to twentysomethings, thirtysomethings and even fortysomethings ain’t what it used to be. Questionable artist selections (and not always defensible arguments for them to an audience quite capable of making decisions on ethical and moral grounds) might have played.