RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Australia’s Laneway Festival will not visit Adelaide or Perth in 2027, organizers announced Monday (Aug. 10), scaling back the long-running touring festival’s footprint for its next edition.
In a message shared on social media, organizers told fans in South Australia and Western Australia that “in 2027, Laneway will be taking a break in your cities,” acknowledging the news as “disappointing” while framing it as a strategic decision rather than a permanent exit.
“For over two decades, we’ve had the pleasure of bringing Laneway to Australia and New Zealand, with stints in Singapore and Detroit too,” the statement read. “Running so many shows, so close together, across so much ground is a logistical feat we are proud of, but it also asks a lot of our lineup and crew.” The organizers added that a pause would allow them “to focus on making the festival the best it can be, while freeing up time for more artists to bring headline shows to cities beyond our festival stops,” before signing off: “Adelaide and Perth, we love you! This isn’t goodbye, just see you soon.”
There was better news for Queensland fans. After a one-off 2026 edition on the Gold Coast — held at Southport Sharks, the festival’s first time in the region — Laneway’s northern leg will return to the Brisbane Showgrounds in 2027.
“Thank you to Southport Sharks for welcoming us in 2026 and giving us the opportunity to share Laneway with the Gold Coast’s incredible music community,” organizers said. The Brisbane edition first launched in Fortitude Valley in 2007 and was a fixture there before relocating to the Showgrounds in 2013.
Laneway has grown from modest beginnings into one of the most significant touring festivals in the region. It began in 2005 as a Melbourne-exclusive event — an offshoot associated with The Avalanches — held in the city’s laneways, from which it takes its name. It expanded to Sydney in 2006, Brisbane in 2007, Adelaide in 2008 and Perth in 2009, before going international with an Auckland edition in 2010. A seven-year run in Singapore launched in 2011, and a one-off Detroit event in 2013 remains the festival’s only North American date.
In 2027, the festival will run across four cities: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, with venues, dates and lineup details promised soon.
The decision to trim two cities comes at a precarious moment for Australia’s festival sector, which has seen a wave of cancellations and collapses in recent years. Splendour in the Grass, one of the country’s largest festivals, cancelled its 2024 edition, while Falls Festival, Groovin the Moo and others have scrapped events amid rising costs, softening ticket sales and mounting logistical pressures. Against that backdrop, Laneway’s framing of the move as a deliberate “pause” rather than a retreat is notable — the festival remains one of the more resilient players in a strained market, having just come off a milestone edition.
That 2026 edition marked Laneway’s 21st year and was headlined by Chappell Roan , whose debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess became a global breakout, alongside a bill that included Wet Leg , Wolf Alice , PinkPantheress , Geese and Lucy Dacus .
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