Australia’s largest music festival, Big Day Out, has gotten some new owners – who have cancelled the event for 2015. C3 Presents, who book and promote Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, are now the sole owner of the event. Co-owner AJ Maddah, who runs Soundwave and bought into Big Day Out last year, sold his share in the festival, which had been taking place since 1992. He sold his stake for only $1, but C3 has given him the option to buy back into the fest next year for the same price. “Yes I’m still involved, yes Big Day Out will come back in 2o16, yes the festival is still alive,” Maddah said in an interview on radio station triple j. “C3 is proud to own Big Day Out, one of the most iconic and established festival brands in the world,” the company said in a statement. While we intend to bring back the festival in future years, we can confirm there will not be a Big Day Out in 2015.”
One of the main reasons why the annual festival has been canceled is that, at least for this year’s run, it was a financial disaster, losing between $8 and $15 million and suffering from low turnout. If you ask Maddah, however, it’s due to a lack of headliners. “There’s a shortage of headliners on ccycle this year. Hence BDO taking year off,” he stated. Big Day Out is usually held in January. It’s a traveling festival that hits Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand.
