‘Festivals have had their day’: Industry heavyweight defends SA Govt
One of the biggest names in attracting international acts to SA says the government is “not to blame” after news broke that Laneway was joining a growing list of lost state festivals.
The co-director of Adelaide’s iconic Thebarton Theatre says that the government should not take the blame when music festivals are cancelled following news that the popular Laneway would skip Adelaide in 2027.
Bob Lott, who is director of Weslo Group and co-director of Thebarton Theatre, told InDaily that the music industry as a whole should not expect government handouts, saying it was not their fault when festivals like Laneway are cancelled. In 2025, the festival attracted 25,000 music lovers to Bonython Park.
“Festivals have had their day – festivals came, and they’re going, as did dance music, as did garage music, as did every type of music that has developed over many, many, many years because they’re always going to do that,” he said, adding that it was not the government’s fault when festivals fail.
“’When was the government expected to start making arrangements for people who wanted to become chefs?’ ‘When does the government start putting money aside for them because things are tough?’ … They don’t.”
Lott has previously managed headlining musicians like Jimmy Barnes and The Angels; he also helped save the Thebarton Theatre from bulldozers in the late 1970s.
It comes as the organisers of Laneway announced that the popular music festival, which last year headlined with Chappell Roan and has also attracted Charli XCX to town, would be skipping Adelaide and Perth in 2027. An online petition launched yesterday calling for its reinstatement has 99 signatures.
While Lott supported government funding of places like the Adelaide Festival Theatre given it was culturally important and in a prime location but would “never make a quid” on its own, he took issue with the government’s general approach to the music industry.
“I don’t think the government should be made to take the blame for the industry’s own lack of skill as far as running itself,” Lott, who turns 86 tomorrow, said.
“They shouldn’t be supporting little bloody cafés that have got a band in there on Saturday afternoon for whatever – there’s no responsibility on the government to support the entertainment industry as far as I’m concerned.
“Now, the festival thing, one or two of the really big festivals that are financially viable will continue because there’s a quid in it, but all those festivals that were around a couple of years ago and are now not happening, ‘Why are they not happening?’, the government has withdrawn its money – they weren’t viable in the first place.”
Adelaide-based Yorta Yorta author and mindset coach Allira Potter told InDaily yesterday that it was “hard to see another major music festival disappear from the calendar”.
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“I just wish there was more government funding and support for the arts and music,” she said.
“Adelaide has such an incredible music scene, and I’d love to see the same level of investment and excitement that we give to major sporting events.”
Asked yesterday why there were so many festivals being cancelled, MusicSA CEO Christine Schloithe told InDaily there was a confluence of factors, saying it was “a really difficult and complex environment for live music in Australia”.
Among those reasons was the logistics of touring a festival nationally, high fuel costs, the crunch on touring schedules and the reputation as a city where music fans “don’t make up their mind until a week or two beforehand”, creating uncertainty for organisers.
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