A five-day music festival known as the Esoteric Music Festival has been abruptly cancelled just a day before its scheduled start following a refusal from a building surveyor to issue the necessary permit. Managing Director Sam Goldsmith expressed the team’s devastation over the decision.
The festival had been reliant on a planning permit that had expired the previous year. Although a new ten-year permit was applied for in September, the local Buloke Shire Council had offered a temporary reprieve with a one-year permit approval, but this was followed by the refusal of a Place of Public Entertainment Occupancy Permit (POPE-OP) just prior to the festival commencement.
The building surveyor’s decision—independent of council influence—was based on safety and compliance issues, including failures to adhere to standards from the previous year’s POPE-OP. The council stated that it could not override the surveyor’s judgement. In light of the refusal, festival organisers were advised to cancel the event, urging ticket holders not to attend, given the lack of required approvals. The council had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the adherence to public health standards due to an outbreak of shigellosis affecting many attendees at last year’s festival.
The festival’s cancellation has left thousands of attendees, many of whom had already travelled to the region for the event, disheartened. Goldsmith took to social media to express his disappointment, labelling the outcome as a significant setback, not just for the organisers but for local businesses and the community that benefitted from the event. He highlighted that, since its inception in 2017, the festival had significantly boosted Victoria’s regional economy, injecting over $15 million and supporting numerous jobs.
Looking ahead, he urged ticket holders to retain their tickets for the postponed event, now slated for 2026, assuring them of a full refund if they cannot attend the future festival. Goldsmith concluded with a promise to return stronger, celebrating the festival’s long-standing role in supporting the local tourism and live music scenes.