The Future Music Festival at the Singapore Changi Exhibition Centre has been cancelled, less than a week before it was set to begin. Admittedly, most saw this development coming even as organizers Livescape insisted last week that they were dead-set on pushing forward with the event. Acts including Avicii, The Prodigy, Afrojack and Fatboy Slim will have their weekends freed up as a result.
The company defended its efforts, placing the blame at the feet of Singapore's police force and other authorities.
"Despite having put in place a robust event, security, safety and medical management plan which has been developed alongside both local and international experts with a combined 50 years of experience in running similar large-scale events, our Public Entertainment License has not been granted," read the organization's statement. "The plans that have been developed far exceeds international standards."
Issues reached a desperate point as Livescape reached out directly to Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs, Teo Chee Hean, in an effort to surpass the police force, who had twice denied applications for the licenses to operate the festival. Most assume that Singapore, one of the world's strictest enforcers of drug laws, saw the Future Music Festival as a bad egg following multiple deaths at the 2014 event in Malaysia, despite claims to the contrary by the organizers.
As Music Times pointed out last week, the fact that the event was 5,000 tickets short of selling out didn't bode well either. If anything was going to soften the heart of Teo, it would be a sellout event that would bring millions to the local economy. Evidently Livescape had the wrong idea about the messages Singapore was sending...or it just waited way too long to apply for the neccesary paperwork.
The event's Facebook page features instructions for obtaining a refund on a ticket, which Livescape expects to take between 30-45 days. That won't be enough for many attendees however, who won't be able to get refunds for the flights and hotels booked for the weekend. Might as well check out some of Singapore's more cultural treasures.
