Music fans rejoice as the first festival since lockdown sells out in five minutes – but there’s a catch
- Birdsville Big Red Bash will be first sold-out music festival post COVID lockdown
- When tickets went on sale for the 2021 event and they sold out in five minutes
- The 2020 event had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
An outback music festival scheduled to go ahead after the lockdown has sold out in five minutes.
Organisers for the Birdsville Big Red Bash released the first round of refund tickets for its 2021 festival at 9am on Tuesday and by 9.05am the event had sold out.
The festival will be the first in Australia after the COVID lockdown.
The Birdsville Big Red Bash (pictured) will be the first music festival to run in Australia after the lockdown after selling out its 2021 event in just five minutes
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Big Red Bash ticket holders were given the option to hold onto their tickets for 2021, only 10 per cent sought a refund
Big Red Bash Founder and Organiser Greg Donovan said the demand was so strong they spent the rest of the day answering messages from those who missed out.
‘We’re relieved and grateful, and hope that this is a sign of things to come for other event organisers,’ he said.
‘It’s certainly a great litmus test on the appetite for travel within Australia, and fantastic to see so many people jumping on-board so quickly to support outback travel.’
After the event’s continued success and growth 1000 extra tickets had been allocated for the 2020 event, to 10,000, and it sold out in record time.
With those numbers now locked in for 2021 it will be the biggest incarnation of the festival to date.
The 2021 event will go down in Australian history as the first sell-out music festival to run since the coronavirus lockdown (young girl and family pictured at Big Red Bash)
The Birdsville Big Red Bash is the most remote music festival in the world, located on the edge of the Simpson Desert against a backdrop of rolling red sand dunes.
The 2021 all-ages event is now scheduled to run from July 6 to July 8 in front of a 40-metre-tall sand dune which gives the festival its name, ‘Big Red’.
A string of Australian acts are locked in to appear at the 2020 festival including Paul Kelly, Tim Finn, John Williamson, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss and Shannon Noll.
When Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the sold-out 2020 event ticket holders were given the option to hold onto their tickets for 2021, or take up a refund offer.
Only 10 per cent of ticket holders opted for a cash refund.
The Big Red Bash is a proudly family-friendly event, offering dog-friendly camping and concert areas, with children aged 11-and-under able to attend for free.
A string of Australian acts are locked in to appear at the 2020 festival including Paul Kelly, Tim Finn, John Williamson, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss and Shannon Noll