BIGSOUND goes online for a free virtual festival in 2020

With ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and border closures between states, the annual BIGSOUND festival will be transitioning to a free virtual event for 2020.

Held across Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October, the event that would normally be held in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will now be taking place entirely online.

“BIGSOUND has always been about bringing our business and arts community together and while we were hopeful of being in our spiritual home in the Fortitude Valley live music precinct, 2020 has made other arrangements,” said QMusic CEO Angela Samut.

While a COVID-safe edition of the festival was initially planned, ongoing coronavirus measures made this infeasible, forcing organisers to devise a virtual alternative.

The traditional live showcase of Australian artists will no longer be taking place; however, the industry panel discussions and workshops will still go ahead.

The 2020 virtual program of keynote addresses, workshops, panels and discussions will explore the serious industrial needs of the business of music. In the COVID-19 age, speakers will address the survival of the music industry, while taking this unique opportunity in history to consider re-futuring the building blocks on which the industry stands.

BIGSOUND Festival co-programmers Dom Miller and Ruby-Jean McCabe, alongside First Nations Programmer Alethea Beetson, have announced that they will be selecting certain artist applications to become The BIGSOUND 50, granting them priority for next year’s BIGSOUND artist application.

Delegates who previously purchased a ticket to this year’s physical event will receive a full refund, while digital passes for this year’s virtual BIGSOUND 2020 are now available via the official website.

Ed Hirst

I'm either listening to music, writing about music, or writing my own music! Keep up to date with my latest projects @edhirsty