Liquidator finds Bluesfest may have traded while insolvent for months

Thousands of fans bought Bluesfest tickets before the event was called off at short notice. (Supplied: Dave Kan)

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.

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.

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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 dir