News is circulating this morning that popular Australian touring festival Stereosonic has been cancelled following the bankruptcy of parent company SFX Entertainment. Multiple sources including Mixmag, Inthemix and The Daily Telegraph (hidden behind a paywall) are all reporting that the festival has closed its doors, figuratively and literally.
First, inthemix confirmed that the offices of Stereosonic in Melbourne are now up for lease. This was amid already-swirling rumors of the festival’s demise. Two unfortunate deaths occurred at Stereosonic last year at two different locations, spurring wide debate about the state of drug use at festivals in Australia; coupled with SFX’s economic chaos, it’s not entirely surprising that the festival would face major hurdles moving forward.
Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, festival founder Frank Cotela said, “I just don’t know what is going on there at Stereosonic.” Cotela was kept on as a consultant for SFX when they purchased Totem OneLove. 
“All the core team behind Stereosonic have left SFX and there’s hardly anyone left to put on the festival,” said another source to inthemix. “Plus SFX is dealing with bankruptcy in the US with the CEO Robert Sillerman gone and the business in disarray, it seems unlikely the festival will return.”
Stereosonic has yet to make an official statement at the time of publishing.
Image via Rukes
