The iconic Outback music festival won’t go ahead in 2026.

In devastating news for the Birdsville Big Red Bash and its loyal festivalgoers, one of the most anticipated music events on the Australian calendar has been cancelled due to widespread flooding across the Australian outback in late February and early March. “This is an incredibly tough call for Greg Donovan and the Big Red Bash team, particularly with the event 90% sold out," said Stuart Field, Oztix Co-Founder & Managing Director.

The three-day, family-friendly outback music festival, which is held annually in July on the Big Red sand dune near Birdsville, Queensland, was scheduled to take place July 7–9, 2026, with Australian music legends Missy Higgins, Hoodoo Gurus, The Teskey Brothers, The Living End, Birds of Tokyo and Jessica Mauboy set to take to the stage.

Managing Director of the Outback Music Festival Group, Greg Donovan, said hosting the festival in another location wasn’t on the cards. “After careful consideration of the available options, we decided that relocating the Birdsville Big Red Bash was not feasible for 2026," he shared. “We surveyed our patrons to fully understand their feelings about a relocated festival and their attendance intentions." The survey received a 95 per cent response rate, and the festival team based their decision on what they believed was in the best interest of the event and patrons.

So what’s next?

Ticket holders will have until June 19, 2026, to take action on one of the following:

• Request a refund that will be processed immediately by Oztix
• Transfer your tickets to the 2027 Birdsville Big Red Bash (6-8 July 2027) (no action required)
• Transfer your tickets to the 2026 Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash (20–22 August 2026)

“We’ll be doing our part to ensure customer refunds are processed efficiently and, importantly, supporting Greg and the team to bring the Bash back next year," said Field. The majority of the 2026 artist line-up is committed to the 2027 edition of the festival.