Birdsville’s Big Red Bash will come to an end in 2027, with organisers confirming the Queensland outback festival’s next edition will be its last after 13 years.

Punters celebrate at Big Red Bash in previous years. Photo: Big Red Bash.

The final Big Red Bash will be held at the Big Red dune near Birdsville from July 6–8, 2027, bringing one of Australia’s most distinctive destination music festivals to a close.

Organisers have also revealed the farewell lineup, led by Missy Higgins, Hoodoo Gurus, Leo Sayer, Kate Ceberano, The Living End, Birds of Tokyo, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll, The Whitlams, Tim Finn and Troy Cassar-Daley.

The announcement follows the cancellation of the 2026 festival after heavy rain and flooding inundated the site. The event was around 90 per cent sold at the time, with ticket holders given the option to transfer to 2027.

Why Big Red Bash is ending

Festival founder Greg Donovan said the event remained successful and financially viable, but the combination of weather risk, rising costs and the logistical demands of staging a major festival at such a remote site had become increasingly difficult to sustain.

Birdsville sits about 1500 kilometres west of Brisbane, and the Big Red Bash has built its identity around that isolation since launching in 2013.

Recent years have also brought repeated weather challenges. Rain affected the festival in 2023 and 2024, while the 2026 event was cancelled after flooding left the Big Red site underwater.

Organisers say water still remains across parts of the site, but they expect it to evaporate and the ground to dry well before the final festival in July 2027.

Big Red Bash 2027 lineup

The final Birdsville lineup includes:

• Missy Higgins
• Hoodoo Gurus
• Leo Sayer
• The Living End
• Birds of Tokyo
• Jessica Mauboy
• Shannon Noll
• Kate Ceberano
• The Whitlams
• Tim Finn
• Troy Cassar-Daley
• Chocolate Starfish
• Ross Wilson
• Furnace and the Fundamentals
• 50 Years of Fleetwood Mac
• Shane Howard
• Wes Carr
• Jem Cassar-Daley
• Tom Busby & Gypsy Lee

A major loss for outback Queensland

The Bash has become a major tourism drawcard for western Queensland, attracting thousands of travellers who also spend in Birdsville and other small outback towns on the journey in and out.

Diamantina Shire Council Mayor Francis Murray told ABC Western Queensland the loss would affect local businesses, while Birdsville operators have described the festival as an event that helped put the town on the map for visitors.

Organisers say their other outback event, the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill, will continue and become their sole festival focus.

Big Red Bash 2027 tickets and dates

Big Red Bash 2027
July 6–8, 2027
Big Red dune, 35km west of Birdsville, Queensland

New tickets are due to go on sale on November 12, with organisers offering full-payment and deposit options. Existing ticket holders who transferred from the cancelled 2026 festival will retain their place for the final event.

Official Big Red Bash website and ticket updates →

Find more Regional Queensland music festivals →

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