Festival season is one of the most exciting times for music fans around the world. They get to see some of their favorite acts on big stages almost every weekend. Traveling and camping becomes part of the adventure. Even with the proliferation of festivals globally, there is a downside sometimes as financial hardships can hit some brands at the worst times. Groovefest, a dance music festival, canceled today its edition in weeklong festival scheduled to start on Sunday in the Dominican Republic. To make matters worse, the company is going into liquidation.
This means they will not be giving refunds to anybody who bought tickets or travel arrangements.
This is the worst-case scenario for anybody who buys tickets to a destination festival. Two days before the festival not only cancels, but offers absolutely no refunds because it is going under. To many it will look like a smash and grab for the money they earned on some ticket sales, no matter how bleak the financial situation actually was.
In a statement, Groovefest apologized for the incident, explaining, "We have been unable to hit our ticket sales targets despite all our efforts." They offer phone numbers and contact details for those who made travel arrangements, though they advise everyone to not come to Punta Cana unless they can make arrangements beyond the festival.
"We will however in any event look to contact you all during the course of today / tomorrow or on Monday," the statement continues. That is not a job I would like to have.
They explain the terms of their liquidation. "The company has now effectively ceased trading and we have formally instructed insolvency practitioners, SFP to assist us with the formalities of placing the company into liquidation."
On their Facebook, some fans expressed outrage at having just lost out thousands of dollars, pounds or euros. Other shared their disgust in the company.
DJs like Claude vonStroke, Derrick Carter, Kenny Dope, Kidnap Kid and DJ Pierre were slated to perform.
Check out the full statement below.
