Strawberry Fields Cancels October Festival Due To Flooding

September 27, 2022

Just over a month before it was set to begin, organisers have announced the cancellation of Strawberry Fields‘ October event. Originally scheduled to run from 28th to 30th October, the decision to cancel the festival – which was set to take place along the banks of the Murray River in Tocumwal, NSW – was made due to excessive flooding.

The event organisers noted that the Murray River is currently at an “unprecedented persistent high”, making it impossible to hold the festival in such a location. “While the idea of throwing the first music festival exclusively accessible by houseboat, tinny, personal snorkelling or flotation device was somewhat tempting, we decided Australia probably isn’t quite ready for the concept just yet,” organisers explained in a statement.

Strawberry Fields site “currently metres underwater”

“After being in Tocumwal for a decade we have never witnessed conditions like this,” they explained. “Critical access and entertainment areas are currently metres underwater, and expert advice suggests the situation could only worsen from here.

“At this stage it is not possible to commence event construction or be confident at all that the festival can safely take place. After consultation with our critical local stakeholders and emergency services, and with insufficient time to secure an alternative venue, we have been left with no alternative but to cancel.”

News of the cancellation follows a difficult few years for the festival. After a COVID hiatus in 2020, last year’s event was postponed and eventually restructured as a limited capacity two-weekend affair in March and April of this year.

October would have marked Strawberry Fields’ fully-fledged comeback, with a lineup featuring Barkaa, Mindy Meng Wang, NO ZU, Tijuana Cartel and Jesswar, as well as international acts Egyptian Lover, The Pharcyde, Moodymann, Kamaal Williams, DJ Python, Acid Pauli, and a DJ set from Massive Attack’s Daddy G, just to name a few.

Despite news of the festival’s cancellation, a pair of sideshows have been announced for Melbourne in late October. On Friday, 28th October, Mali blues outfit Tamikrest will appear at The Night Cat alongside Moontide Ensemble, Amaru Tribe, and DJ Eva J. Moodymann and friends will take over “Thornbury’s hidden event destination” The Thorn on Monday, 31st October, with “surprise international guests” to be announced in the coming weeks.

All ticket holders for the cancelled festival are able to request a refund from today. However, organisers encourage punters to hold onto their tickets for next year when the festival plans to make a return from 17th to 19th November.

“Expect Strawberry to be back in full power next November,” they said. “We plan to drive all the surprises we had in store for October into fifth gear.”