Splendour in the Grass
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Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian
music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near
Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, and
Woodford, Queensland Woodford is a rural town and locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Woodford had a population of 3,458 people. The town is noted for the Woodford Folk Festival that takes place over the New Year holid ...
.


History

The festival was jointly created and promoted by the Village Sounds Agency and Secret Service music companies, and began in 2001 as a one-day gathering to cater for Australia's winter season (a period that had traditionally been associated with very few events of this nature). The festival has several owners including 51% majority holder NYSX listed Live Nation. In April 2020 (approximatley 30 days after the global initial lockdown phase of covid) 5.7% of Live Nation was purchased by the public trust of Saudi Arabia. Other owners of the festival include Village Sounds and Secret Sounds (also co owned by Live Nation) "Ode: Intimations of Immortality", by English poet
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...
, was the inspiration for the naming of the event. The festival evolved into a two-day event in 2002 and a three-day event in 2009. It is now considered Australia's largest music festival. Splendour in the Grass showcases popular and established musical artists, as well as emerging Australian artists. The music festival has attracted notable artists such as
Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...
,
Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer ...
,
Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...
,
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...
and
Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...
. The 2020 festival was to be headlined by
Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...
,
The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
, and
Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape Bast ...
, but was postponed and then cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. The 2021 edition was to be held in July before being postponed to November then cancelled due to the pandemic, with The Strokes, and Tyler, the Creator, back as headliners, and adding
Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...
. The 2022 edition will be held in July, with Gorillaz, The Strokes, and Tyler, the Creator returning as headliners. On 24 and 25 July 2021, Splendour held a virtual festival which AUD$1.5 Million was funded by the federal government RISE program and hosted on US owned platform Sansar called Splendour XR which featured performances from
Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.
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The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...
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Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...
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CHVRCHES Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...
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Denzel Curry Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flor ...
, Vance Joy,
Tash Sultana Tash Sultana (born 15 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music producer and engineer, described as a " one-woman band". Sultana rose to international prominence with their 2016 single "Jungle", which was vot ...
and
Masked Wolf Harry Michael (born February 12, 1991), known professionally as Masked Wolf, is an Australian rapper from Sydney, New South Wales. He is best known for his song "Astronaut in the Ocean", which became a sleeper hit in 2021, peaking at number 4 ...
.


Awards and nominations


National Live Music Awards

The
National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside ...
(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - ,
National Live Music Awards of 2016 The National Live Music Awards of 2016 are the inaugural National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of ...
, Splendour in the Grass , Best Live Music Festival or Event , , - ,
National Live Music Awards of 2017 The National Live Music Awards of 2017 are the second National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the ...
, Splendour in the Grass , Best Live Music Festival or Event , , - ,
National Live Music Awards of 2018 The National Live Music Awards of 2018 are the third National Live Music Awards. The event took place on 6 December 2018. The event moved its gala event to Brisbane – following events in Sydney and Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ W ...
, Splendour in the Grass , NSW Live Event of the Year ,


Festival summary by year


Lineups


Controversies


Ticketing Issues

Tickets for the 2005 festival were sold out within 11 hours and, soon after, festival tickets that initially cost A$125 were offered on
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
at inflated prices of up to A$3000. The festival organisers responded by sending "
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
" letters to eBay, as well as around 150 ticket resellers, citing a breach of the conditions of sale. However, eBay refused to block the ticket auctions, claiming it was the seller's responsibility to ensure that they have the ability and right to sell products. The
Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
radio station encouraged its listeners to sabotage the bidding process and fake bids of up to A$10,000 were consequently listed on eBay by protesters opposed to
ticket scalping Ticket resale (also known as ticket scalping or ticket touting) is the act of reselling tickets for admission to events. Tickets are bought from licensed sellers and then sold for a price determined by the individual or company in possession of ...
. Following media coverage, the NSW Department of Fair Trading became involved and met with eBay representatives. The then-Fair Trading Minister
John Hatzistergos John Hatzistergos (born 20 August 1960) is an Australian judge of the District Court of New South Wales. He is a former politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the Labor Party between 1999 and 2011, ...
instructed the Office of Fair Trading to investigate the reselling of tickets and determine whether resellers were in breach of the Fair Trading Act. Festival promoters hoped that the investigation would eventually lead to the introduction of anti-ticket scalping legislation. In response to the events of 2005, the organisers altered the ticketing system for the 2006 festival. In an unprecedented action, ticket buyers were required to register their name and date of birth at the time of purchase. These details were then printed on the event tickets and valid identification was required to gain admission into the festival. Tickets to the 2006 festival went on sale at 9am on Monday 15 May 2006—all camping tickets sold out within three hours, and all general admission tickets sold out after 48 hours. Festival organisers encountered difficulties with the ticketing system provided by the Qjump company in 2008, as consumers were unable to purchase tickets following lengthy delays. Qjump later issued an apology on the festival's Internet forum. In July 2022, hours before performers were set to go on stage and while artists were conducting soundchecks, festival organisers controversially made the decision to cancel all performances scheduled for the first day on the main stage due to poor weather and flooding. Ticketholders took to social media angry after the festival organisers had stated that the "''show will go on rain, hail or shine''" earlier in the day, prior to the cancellation.


Venue issues

For a once-only trial, the organisers obtained permission to stage the 2009 Splendour in the Grass at a site in Yelgun. However, the consent provided to the organisers was the subject of a challenge by a group of residents, environmentalist and the Environmental Defenders Office of NSW, who presented their case in the
Land and Environment Court of New South Wales The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales is a court within the Australian court hierarchy established pursuant to the to hear environmental, development, building and planning disputes. The Court’s jurisdiction, confined to the state ...
. The Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court, Justice Brian Preston, ruled that Byron Shire Council had exceeded its powers by granting the development consent where the land included parts zoned for conservation purposes. The development consent was ruled invalid, prohibiting the festival from being held at the Yelgun site. As a consequence of the decision, the festival remained at the Belongil site in 2009, before returning one more time in 2012. In 2016 attendees made accusations they were forced to walk from the venue or sleep in the mud due to a lack of transport.


See also

* List of Splendour in the Grass line-ups * Splendour in the Grass 2019


References


External links


Official WebsiteRip It Up Magazine , Splendour In The Grass Review
{{Music of Australia Rock festivals in Australia Concert tours Summer festivals Festivals in Queensland 2001 establishments in Australia Byron Bay, New South Wales Music festivals established in 2001 Festivals in New South Wales