LEAKED artist names are circulating on social media ahead of Bluesfest’s first official line-up announcement on Monday.
Media received the embargoed list on Thursday to prepare coverage, with the first wave of artists scheduled to be announced at 7am Monday.
Despite the embargo, it did not take long for Facebook groups, fan chats and comment threads to begin publishing the names of acts mentioned in the release.
Early Bird tickets end at 2am Monday, meaning the discounted price closes five hours before the line-up is officially released.
This leaves those who have seen the leaked list at an advantage and others needing to commit without confirmed artist details.
“Early bird means you have to buy before you know who’s performing? Yeah, nah,” one festival-goer posted on Facebook.
The 2025 Bluesfest was promoted last year as the “final festival ever,” a farewell supported by a statement from festival director Peter Noble OAM describing Bluesfest as “a labour of love” and calling on fans to “make the final Bluesfest one for the ages.”
The announcement prompted emotional tributes as well as scepticism over whether the festival was truly ending.
Months later, Bluesfest confirmed it would return in 2026, prompting memes comparing the announcement to John Farnham’s decades-long run of farewell tours.
However, many more fans were philosophical, believing that if it had not been promoted as the last festival it would not have had record attendances and may very well have joined the long list of festivals that had collapsed in recent years.
A fake Bluesfest line-up poster that is still circulating on social media.
In October, a fake Bluesfest Facebook page circulated a professionally designed but false poster claiming Tracy Chapman was headlining.
The post prompted the official Bluesfest Byron Bay page to issue a scam alert notice.
“Scam Alert: Please be aware that the “Bluesfest Byron Bay (Official)” Facebook group is not affiliated with us. This group is a scam.”
“If you’ve joined it, please leave the group immediately and report it to Meta. They try to sell fake ‘Bluesfest livestreams’ to steal your credit card details. We never offer any sort of livestream.”
The post gained tens of thousands of views and more than 500 comments.
“IS TRACY CHAPMAN 100% attending?” one user asked.
“When they spell the artists’ names wrong, it’s a dead giveaway this is dodgy,” another wrote.
One user commented: “AI BULL$#IT.”
Others expressed confusion over whether the festival was still happening.
“I thought this event was done?”
The mix of leaks, rumours, past announcements and misinformation has hit a feverish pitch ahead of Monday’s first artist reveal.
Fans are being urged to only rely on Bluesfest’s official website and verified social channels and to ignore posters or screenshots shared without source details.
The official announcement will be released at 7am Monday. Subscribe to receive it direct to your inbox.
