The future of Western Australia's music festival scene is trending towards smaller-scale events in the wake of cancellations from major concerts in the South West.
West Australia Music (WAM) chief executive Owen Whittle said WA's live music industry had struggled to recover since the pandemic, with large festivals in particular impacted due to operational costs.
"Coming out of COVID, we are really seeing new and emerging artists struggle to have their voices heard," Mr Whittle said.
"It's such a key period of time where they missed out on the abilities to play festivals, play local gigs, even just tour the eastern states and internationally."
Owen Whittle says it is incredibly costly to hold large-scale festivals. (Supplied: West Australian Music)
Mr Whittle said the artists were still dealing with the impact of the pandemic.
"That's not helped by still seeing some festivals cancelled and some venues struggling to survive," he said.
"Cost of insurance, cost of staging, labour. It's all making it incredibly difficult to pull off particularly large-scale outdoor events.
"It's really come home to roost in Western Australia as I've seen a number of festivals cancel this year, but also more and more, year-on-year."
This year alone, two multi-day festivals in Bunbury were cancelled, Groovin in the Moo and, more recently, You & Me, citing low ticket sales and high operational costs.
A variety of niche music genres at the Meliora Festival brought different fans, including techno, drum and bass. (ABC South West: Andrew Williams)
"Coming to Western Australia can be a bit more pricey, but it's also scale of markets that's a problem," Mr Whittle said.
But now, smaller festivals focused on highlighting local talent are stepping into the vacuum left behind by the cancellation of large-scale events.
Just this weekend alone in the South West, the town of Kirup and the adjacent locality of Newlands, about 220 kilometres south of Perth, played host to two niche multi-day music festivals.
Mr Whittle said events like Dark Down South and the Meliora Festival were good examples of smaller festivals bucking the trend.
About 1,500 people attended a three day music and wellness festival near Donnybrook Western Australia. (ABC News: Andrew Williams)
Not in it for the money
Nina Celine Jahn is one of the organisers of the lifestyle, community focused Meliora Festival, now in its second year, which saw 1,500 attendees.
Nina Celine Jahn says the Meliora Festival focuses on fostering a community and connecting with other people. (ABC News: Andrew Williams)
"I think that most of the festivals are for the money, where we are really for the community. People are coming back because they are loving what we are doing," she said.
"It's not for the DJ's. We are not having big name here. It doesn't matter how big the DJ is; it just matters how they interact with the crowd."
Despite being held on a remote farm block, the Meliora Festival had all the amenities and safety precautions of a major festival, just on a smaller scale.
"The festival for us means an escape from reality, having a break from the outside world," Ms Jahn said.
"WA needs to become more educated in music and community.
"I feel like people are very judgemental here that every festival is a 'bush doof', but this is not that. It's a lifestyle community festival."
The sentiment about not focusing on the commercial aspect and making a profitable return was echoed by the organisers of the nearby metal festival.
Kim Zehra is one of the organisers of the Dark Down South festival and she spoke to ABC South West radio last week ahead of the event.
"We are doing it for the love of music and the love of the community," she said.
South West Metal Fest organiser Kim Zehra says the event will create a new opportunity for Kirup. (Supplied: Kimberley Zehra, JamArt Sound Lounge)
Hundreds came down for the multi-day metal festival, but Ms Zehra said she had hoped for more ticket sales.
Ms Zehra said she attributed it to the ongoing cost of living crisis but was committed to running the festival as it was not about the money.
"We don't look to make a single cent out of this festival … that's not why we are doing the festival," Ms Zehra said.
"We are doing it because the metal lovers really wanted it to happen.
"We are doing it for the love of music and the love of the community."