Strawberry Fields Cancelled Due To Flooding & Ongoing La Niña

Beloved dance music Riverina festival Strawberry Fields has today announced its cancellation due to extreme flooding.

The festival was set to take place from the 28th to the 30th of October and featured an all star line up including Moodymann, Barkaa, Horse Meat Disco, Kamaal Williams, Sassy J, Paramida and Acid Pauli just to name a few.

A statement from the co-directors reads, “We are absolutely devastated to announce that we must cancel Strawberry this October,

While the idea of throwing the first music festival exclusively accessible by houseboat, tinny, personal snorkelling or flotation device was somewhat tempting….we decided Australia probably isn’t quite ready for the concept just yet.

“The Murray river - which normally is the star attraction of our beloved festival - is currently at an unprecedented persistent high. After being in Tocumwal for a decade we have never witnessed conditions like this. Critical access and entertainment areas are currently metres underwater, and expert advice suggests the situation could only worsen from here.

"At this stage it is not possible to commence event construction or be confident at all that the festival can safely take place. After consultation with our critical local stakeholders and emergency services, and with insufficient time to secure an alternative venue, we have been left with no alternative but to cancel."

The festival has instead announced two massive sideshows in Naarm/Melbourne as a consolation, with one being held at The Night Cat on the 28th of October where Mali blues outfit Tamikrest will perform alongside Moontide Ensemble, Amaru Tribe and DJ Eva J. 

On Monday the 31st of October Detroit heavyweight Moodymann and friends will take over The Thorn with a raft of surprise international guests that will be announced in the coming weeks. 

As of today all festival patrons will be able to request a refund on any Strawberry Fields tickets purchased through Humanitix for October 2022.

“Expect Strawberry to be back in full power next November! We plan to drive all the surprises we had in store for October into fifth gear. As a proud underground event (that means no bar sales, no corporate sponsorship BS!), your support is really what makes Strawberry happen year after year and means the world to us.”