Uncertain future: Land of Plenty festival takes 2023 off

By Anna McGuinness

Feb 16, 2023

Decision pending: The future of Land of Plenty is uncertain. Photo by Caitlyn Grant

Music festival Land of Plenty will not be held in Shepparton in 2023 and a decision on whether to bring the event back in 2024 is set to be made later in the year.

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A spokesperson for the festival said it was a challenging time for events and businesses, and a decision was made to focus on Goulburn Valley Country Music Festival in 2023.

“After [Goulburn Valley Country Music Festival in April] we’ll decide whether to go ahead with Land of Plenty again in 2024,” the spokesperson said.

“It’s such a special event and it’s an awesome thing to bring to Shepparton; with everything going on at the moment it’s just a decision to take a year off and review it.”

Inflation, staff shortages, an influx of events statewide and some COVID-19 factors that played into the festival in 2022 were among the factors that influenced the decision.

“Also just making sure we can put on the best possible festival for the Shepparton community and we decided for 2023 that would be Goulburn Valley Country Music Festival,” the spokesperson said.

“We’ve had such an amazing community response to both of the festivals.”

In 2022 the festivals shared the same weekend in April at Shepparton Showgrounds, with Land of Plenty held on the Saturday and the country music festival on the Sunday.

It was the second time Land of Plenty was run in Shepparton, with the inaugural festival held in 2019.

Goulburn Valley Country Music Festival is being held at the showgrounds on April 1.