The world's most remote music festival is taking a gap year in 2025, with the iconic Birdsville Big Red Bash to take a much earned 'breather' to re-energise its crew ahead of 2026 and beyond.
Staged at the Big Red Dune 35km west of Birdsville in the Simpson Desert continuously since 2013, this year the Big Red Bash hosted the likes of Tina Arena, Jon Stevens, Ian Moss, Colin Hay and Tim Finn plus a host of Aussie legends."The Birdsville Big Red Bash is the most remote music festival in the world and has consistently attracted large crowds who travel to Birdsville from all corners of Australia. It's a bucket list experience for so many people and has consistently sold out," Outback Music Festival Group Managing Director and festival founder/ organiser Greg Donovan says.
"The spectacular desert location means we have no infrastructure onsite – not even the basics of running water or electricity – so every year we effectively build and remove a mini city from scratch and spend six days looking after thousands of people.
"It's a huge task, and one of the most logistically demanding events in the world to stage. Planning for the event is year-round, and most of our crew set aside a month to be on the ground from start to finish.
"After 11 successful years of staging the event and overcoming so many challenges and obstacles along the journey, our awesome team is overdue a break to reset and recharge.
"So, we are having a 'BRB breather' in 2025. To us it feels a bit like having a gap year after 12 years of school! This break is not dissimilar to what some major overseas festivals do, with the most prominent example being Glastonbury in the UK which has a 'fallow year' once every five or six years when they feel the time is right.
"It's not a decision we have taken lightly, and we know that this will cause disappointment for those who have the Big Red Bash in their travel plans for 2025, and for businesses in Outback Queensland who benefit from the influx of travellers the event brings to the region. For this reason, we wanted to give people as much notice as possible about the pause.
"Hopefully many will plan ahead to join us in 2026, and if that's the case they can lock in 7th to 9th July that year, when we will be back refreshed, recharged and ready and eager to Rock the Simpson once again!
"For those still seeking their Bash fix next year, it's business as usual for the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash which will be staged for the fifth time at Belmont Station on the iconic Mundi Mundi Plains from 21 to 23 August 2025."
Stay tuned for the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash line-up drop next month.
