March 02, 2010

By By Lars Brandle, Brisbane

Australia's Lost Weekend festival has lived up to its name: the inaugural event, due to take place this weekend in Brisbane, has been cancelled.

The festival promoter is Parkridge, Queensland-based AAA Entertainment. The event was scheduled for the 9,000 capacity Brisbane RiverStage site March 6/7.

International acts on the bill included Dinosaur Jr and the Brian Jonestown Massacre; key domestic acts due to perform included the Drones and Little Birdy. An AAA statement described the cancellation as "one of the saddest and most difficult decisions we have ever had to make."

AAA had successfully staged Brisbane festival Sounds Of Spring last September. Lost Weekend was initially envisioned as a multi-day camping and music event, but in February organizers announced a late venue change, dropping the camping element and relocating from the Ivory's Rock site west of Brisbane to the smaller RiverStage site in the city center.

According to AAA: "after moving from Ivory's Rock to the Brisbane RiverStage, the Lost Weekend has had insufficient time to achieve critical mass and we have been left with no choice but to cancel the event."

The cancellation comes in the middle of a busy time for the Australian live business, with festival-goers in the Brisbane area being able to chose from a string of major live shows. In the first two months of the New Year, festivals the Big Day Out, Soundwave, Summadayze, Future Music Festival, Sunset Sounds and Good Vibrations have all hit the area, while AC/DC and Whitney Houston have also stopped off for Brisbane concerts.

A two-day ticket for the event cost $150 Australian ($135) plus booking fee. Full refunds will be available this week.

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