Blood, Sweat and Beers festival calls last drinks

The festival runs alongside the other Easter events in Griffith, including Pioneer Park's Action Day and the Vintage Festival among plenty of other celebrations and parties throughout the long weekend.

Organisers Adam Gaffey and Megan Tai said that while they were pleased attendees enjoyed themselves, they would barely break even and were close to wrapping up entirely after numbers dropped to barely half of what they were in 2023.

"We got barely 900. There's just too many events going on - I think this will be our last year," Ms Tai said.

"It's a good run, and we tried our best. We definitely put a lot of effort into it but it is what it is ... Nobody goes to do an event to just barely break even".

She added that the event relied on goodwill of friends and family as well, and that they didn't want to use that forever.

In 2023, organiser Ms Tai appealed to Griffith City Council for financial support only to lose out due to the budget crunch - although they were still eligible for $5000 from the Tourism Event Attraction budget, however the seed funding will not be available to them for 2025.

Ms Tai said that 2024 was the definitive end of the festival, however Mr Gaffey wasn't so sure that it was down and out forever - but said that either way, it wouldn't be back in the same format.

"I don't want to say we're not doing it again, but it definitely has to change ... It may be a different shape and a different philosophy for next time," Mr Gaffey said.

"We need to come together, even Leeton - and decide on what will be done throughout the year because as it stands, we're just watering it all down, making it less attractive."

He suggested rotating the Easter events throughout a cycle of years - for example, the Vintage Festival would run every two or three years, alternating with Blood, Sweat and Beers.