The Homecoming Festival will not be held in 2026, with organisers announcing the event has been paused due to ongoing global economic pressures and rising costs.

Festival organisers say the decision followed extensive discussions, with the financial demands of staging an event of Homecoming’s size and quality making it unfeasible to proceed next year.

They say the pause was chosen over compromising the standard that festivalgoers have come to expect, while efforts continue to develop a more sustainable future for the event.

The announcement comes ahead of the first anniversary of the passing of George “Fiji” Veikoso, whose vision and passion for Pacific music and culture inspired the creation of the Homecoming Festival and helped build its global following.