Australia’s Spilt Milk festival roars back

Australian touring festival Spilt Milk has bounced back from its 2024 cancellation in a big way after reporting the biggest onsale in its near decade-long history.

Promoted by Secret Sounds-owned Kicks Entertainment, the event did not take place last year after organisers told fans, “We couldn’t get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year.”

But its legs in Ballarat (6 December) Canberra (13 December) and the Gold Coast (14 December) have already sold out, with Perth (7 December) also selling “well ahead of previous years”. Remaining general admission tickets are priced A$269.95 (€155).

The 2025 edition will be headlined by Kendrick Lamar, backed by the likes of Doechii, Sara Landry, Dominic Fike, Schoolboy Q, d4vd, Nessa Barrett, Skin on Skin and Sombr.

Spilt Milk started in Canberra in 2016, expanding to the Gold Coast and Ballarat in 2019 and Perth in 2023. Past acts have included Dom Dolla, Vince Staples, Lorde, Cub Sport, RL Grime, Peking Duk, Khalid, Steve Lacy and Post Malone.

Promoters had anticipated the strong demand for the festival’s comeback, sharing last week that presale registrations outnumbered available tickets.

“The funding is providing critical support to iconic festivals and helping ease the burden of a rapidly changing landscape”

The news adds fuel to hopes of a turnaround for Australia’s festival sector, coming on the heels of Byron Bay Bluesfest achieving the third-highest attendance in its history last month.

According to the Australian Festival Association, more than 25 music festivals across the country have been axed since 2022, with this year’s casualties so far including Groovin The Moo, Hello Sunshine, Nowhere Festival, Chapel Street and Secret Sounds’ Splendour in the Grass, which was pulled for a second straight year.

The Australian government recently added another $16.4m to the Revive Live programme to support live music venues and festivals featuring domestic artists.

On a similar note, the NSW government has allocated a combined $2.25 million of emergency funding to festivals in the first round of the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, established in September 2024. The five beneficiaries were Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Your and Owls in Wollongong, and Listen Out and Field Day in Sydney.

The financial support of up to $500,000 per festival aims to alleviate the pressures that had led to many of the cancellations.

“Festivals are crucial to a vibrant music ecosystem, not just as an important part of artist career development, but for the wider benefit to our community’s wellbeing, job creation, economic development and social cohesion,” says head of Sound NSW Emily Collins. “The funding is providing critical support to iconic festivals and helping ease the burden of a rapidly changing landscape and supporting businesses while they adapt.”

The NSW government has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to officially back Michael’s Rule

Australian Festivals Association MD Olly Arkins adds: “The Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund saved some of NSW most iconic and most loved festivals. The support provided through Sound NSW has ensured that at a time when festivals were on the brink of collapse, the NSW Government stepped up and said, ‘We’re with you and want to help you continue to thrive.'”

In addition, the NSW government has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to officially back Michael’s Rule – a policy to ensure international tours include at least one local artist among the support acts. Launched through Sound NSW, Venues NSW and Sydney Opera House, it will offer reduced venue hire fees.

To be eligible, at least one Australian artist must be included as a support act on an international artist’s headline tour at Sydney Opera House or a Venues NSW venue, the Australian artist must appear on the same stage as the international artist, and the Australian artist must be announced at the same time as the tour.

A $20,000 fee reduction will apply for each eligible show across the Venues NSW network, and a $5,000 reduction per eligible show at Sydney Opera House. The incentive will be available for an initial two-year period, starting this month.

The Michael’s Rule campaign bears the name of Michael McMartin, an artist manager who guided the career of Sydney-hailing rock band Hoodoo Gurus for more than 40 years.

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