In news that will have come as a surprise to many ticket purchasers but to almost nobody in the music industry, Bluesfest organiser Peter Noble has confessed that his claim that next Easter’s event would be the last ever was nothing more than a ploy to put the squeeze on the NSW state government.

In August, Noble issued a message via the Byron Bay festival’s social media channels claiming “after the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter”.

That announcement came amid a time of great turmoil for the festival sector, which had been rocked by a raft of postponements, cancellations and closures that prompted a federal parliamentary inquiry that is still running.

But on Wednesday, Noble told music masthead IQ that he was already booking acts for the 2026 edition. “I will always find a way for Bluesfest to go forward,” he said. “That is my job.”

He said the announcement that 2025 would be the “last ever” festival was a response to the NSW government’s refusal to offer his festival help, when it was supporting other events, such as South by Southwest.

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He asked rhetorically: “So what do we have to do? Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us?”

The answer, apparently, was yes.

Noble has in recent years produced economic impact statements that position his festival as a major event that generates local employment, inbound tourism, and enormous promotional opportunities for the region. He claims Bluesfest brought $1.1 billion to NSW through inbound tourism between 2012 and 2024.

“That is a tsunami of gold but it seemingly doesn’t count,” he told IQ. “The [state government] just wanted to put it in their coffers and not take responsibility for Australia’s great events.”

He described his fake news about the imminent ending of Bluesfest as a “clarion call” that meant “we’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet”. But others might see it more as a case of the old man who cried wolf – and as an act that does no favours to the festival sector as a whole, as it genuinely struggles to find a path to viability.

Did the subterfuge work? For Noble, perhaps. He claims to be in negotiations with the NSW government now about potential support for a festival that will next year sell around 90,000 passes.

“I’m trying to get some degree of an understanding with the new government that festivals have a great cultural value, but underneath that is this great economic stimulus that occurs,” he said. “The government needs to recognise that in times of difficulty.”