Harvest Rock will not be held this year. Secret Sounds, the promoter behind the Adelaide wine-and-music festival, said on Friday the event is taking a "fallow year" in 2026, the second time in three years it has skipped a date.
"We know this will be disappointing news to many of you, but good things take time, and we're already working on future plans," the organisers said in a statement. They thanked the South Australian Government for its backing and said they "look forward to partying with you soon."
The government, which funds Harvest Rock through its major events calendar, pointed to the state of global touring. "When the global climate is challenged, less talent reaches around the world, sadly this meant that 2026 was not the right year for Harvest Rock," a spokesperson told InDaily's CityMag, adding that the organisers were taking the year off "to ensure that the festival always delivers at the highest level."
Harvest Rock launched in 2022 in Rymill Park and King Rodney Park with Jack White and Crowded House at the top of the bill, then drew Beck, Jamiroquai and Nile Rodgers and Chic in 2023. The 2024 edition was called off before a lineup was announced. Last October the festival returned with The Strokes, Jelly Roll and The War on Drugs, and its Saturday tickets sold out within 24 hours.
The state government puts the festival's contribution to the South Australian economy across its first two editions at $34.5 million. That public backing is what built the event to its current scale, and the company resting it (the same promoter that runs Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival) has now paused it twice in three years. Rolling Stone Australia counted Harvest Rock among a run of Australian festival cancellations this year, a list that in recent years has taken in Splendour and Groovin the Moo.
No dates have been confirmed for 2027. The organisers say they are working on future plans; whether Harvest Rock returns next October, and at what scale, depends on how the touring market looks a year from now.
