Byron Bluesfest may have traded while insolvent for months before collapse
Thousands of fans bought Bluesfest tickets before the event was called off at short notice. (Supplied: Dave Kan)
In short:
A liquidator's report into the collapse of the iconic Byron Bay Bluesfest music festival has shed light on several unusual transactions and the possibility one of its companies was trading while insolvent for months.
Creditors are expected to receive no more than 11 cents for every dollar they are owed.
What's next?
The liquidator has filed a confidential report to the corporate watchdog flagging potential breaches of the Corporations Act, while the company's director has said he has behaved appropriately at all times.
Byron Bay Bluesfest may have been trading while insolvent for months before it collapsed, according to a new report from the liquidator.
The iconic northern New South Wales music festival, which had been running for more than 30 years, went into liquidation in March with debts exceeding $10 million.
Of that, $7.4 million is owed to unsecured creditors, primarily ticketholders and suppliers, who are expected to recover only about 11 cents for every dollar they are owed.
Two entities, Bluesfest Byron Bay Pty Ltd and Bluesfest Enterprises Pty Ltd, went into liquidation on March 13, three weeks out from the annual festival.
Bluesfest Byron Bay Pty Ltd was responsible for the operation of the event, while Bluesfest Enterprises Pty Ltd received the festival's ticketing income.
The first entity "may have become insolvent sometime around October 2025", the appointed liquidator Jason Bettles wrote in a statutory report filed with the corporate regulator on Thursday night.
"A clear decline is evident from October 2025, when cash reduced materially, losses increased, and borrowing levels rose.
"While there was a short‑term improvement in November 2025, the overall position did not recover."
As for Bluesfest Enterprises, it "may have become insolvent in or around early 2026, if not earlier", the liquidator wrote in another report into that entity.
Peter Noble says he is cooperating with the liquidator. (Supplied: Bluesfest)
The report reveals that the liquidator is probing Bluesfest's founder, Peter Noble, for transactions that seemed "out of the ordinary", and that investigations are ongoing.
Mr Noble, who was previously awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the live music industry, has been reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) by the liquidator for potential breaches of his duties as a director.
Mr Noble said in a statement to the ABC via his lawyers that he was "cooperating" with the liquidator, that he had acted "properly at all times" and expects that "in due course the liquidator will be of the same opinion".
Bluesfest went into liquidation in March. (ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)
Mr Bettles told the ABC that many ticket holders had managed to get refunds and he estimated 900 people were owed money.
"Some of the transactions that occurred seem to be out of the ordinary course," he said.
"And that's not to say that anything is wrong.
"It's just that we haven't completed our conclusions in respect of those investigations."
The company running Bluesfest went into liquidation three weeks before the event. (Supplied)
'Unusual' transaction
The liquidator flagged a transaction he deemed "unusual" in the months and weeks leading up to the festival's demise.
That involved a rental agreement between the companies and festival venue, a farm in Tyagarah that Mr Noble owns.
The liquidator noted payments were made to the farm that were "sporadic and did not consistently match the invoiced amounts".
Although the festival's rental agreement had expired in January last year, the liquidator wrote that less than two weeks before he was appointed, Bluesfest Byron Bay paid more than $300,000 in payments marked as "rent".
"The timing and nature of these irregular payments, particularly the substantial payments made immediately prior to our appointment, is unusual," the liquidator wrote.
Bluesfest was a major Australian music festival. (Supplied: Dave Kan)
The report also drew attention to a manual journal entry added just days before liquidators took over, which wiped a $143,000 debt the farm owed Bluesfest Byron Bay.
It was moved to another entity related to Bluesfest.
"The basis for this adjustment is presently unclear and forms part of our ongoing investigations," the liquidator wrote.
The liquidator also examined a labour hire business also controlled by Mr Noble, which was paid "large, bulk amounts" in the two weeks before Bluesfest Byron Bay collapsed.
The payments totalled more than $500,000 and were marked as "wages" or "transfer", but had "no supporting documentation".
These transactions were made "in close proximity to our appointment", the liquidator said.
Bluesfest ran for 36 years. (Supplied: Robbie Armfield)
This same labour hire company, called Peter Noble Group Pty Ltd, also charged Bluesfest Byron Bay for renting equipment.
Every month, the festival operator paid $1,138, but this "fixed amount does not align with the calculation outlined in the agreement, and suggests the agreement was not being applied as written", the liquidator wrote.
Invoices were "simply" referred to as "monthly equipment rent", with no supporting detail or calculation provided to the liquidator.
The liquidator flagged unfair preference payments, insolvent trading and uncommercial transactions as possible recovery actions against the director to recoup funds for creditors.
Debts
The liquidator's report also noted that $120,000 was owed to the Australian Taxation Office.
Tourism agency Destination NSW is owed $302,500, while Transport for NSW has put in a claim for $222,000.
In a March statement, Bluesfest said it was "an incredibly difficult decision", but the event was no longer viable.