Esoteric Festival 2025 is officially cancelled.
Late Thursday, March 6th, organisers of the fest in Donald, country Victoria, confirmed the show would not go on this weekend as planned, a development that caps an eventful week.
The last-minute shutdown follows the announcement late Monday, March 3rd that, with “overwhelming community support,” the local Buloke Shire Council had voted in favour of presenting the event this long weekend.
There’s more to the story. At that session, council voted to approve a one-year planning permit, for the event to be presented March 6th—11th.
The permit was granted, against the Council officers’ recommendation, reads a statement from Buloke Shire Council, and was subject to 47 conditions.
The following day, on Tuesday, the festival’s application for a Place of Public Entertainment (POPE-OP) was reject by the Council’s Municipal Building Surveyor, who cited 33 grounds of refusal.
With the POPE-OP application refused, the event “does not have the required approvals” and organisers have been advised to cancel the event. Ongoing safety and compliance are among the issues cited.
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Organisers appealed to the State Building Surveyor, Steven Baxas, to intervene, the message reads. Baxas, however, expressed support for council’s decision to refuse to issue a POPE-OP.
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