Cannabis festival acts high and dry
An organiser of the New Zealand Harvest Festival says he intends to refund ticketholders and pay performers but it may not be in the time frame they would like.
Joe Nicolson, who is also known as Growseph Green, said he does not know how much money he owes following the cannabis-themed festival, which was held at Easter.
The festival was moved to a farm at Riversdale, near Gore, after the Dunedin City Council staff and police trespassed organisers from Woodside Glen near Dunedin on the Thursday before Easter.
‘‘It’s not in the hundreds of thousands [of dollars]. It’s not in the fifties of thousands, but it could be close to that. It’s an achievable goal. I just need time to work through it.’’
The festival boasted music including headline act Tiki Taane, workshops about the use of medicinal cannabis and the cannabis industry, hemp stalls and peaceful protests.
‘‘I had the festival all packed up on the side of the road and a few ticketholders had already arrived. I had an alternative venue but it had stock on it, so we couldn’t use that. So we went to Gore instead,’’ Nicolson said.
The festival was moved to the new venue inside a day, forcing ticketholders to travel to Southland or miss out on attending.
‘‘I want to pay tribute to the crew that moved and set up again – they did that in under 24 hours, which is just incredible.’’
Nicolson said the festival budgeted on 500 people attending, but only slightly more than 300 turned up. He has already paid some refunds, he said.
‘‘Less than 20 people have asked for a refund. If there’s more, maybe they’re contacting me on the wrong platform or something.
‘‘As for the performers – well, I don’t want to say too much about that at the moment. Let’s just say no comment to that.’’
But the change of venue did not suit some ticketholders, who vented their anger on social media.
‘‘We had a lot of negative comment online, even when the festival was going. So that, combined with the change of venue, impacted greatly with our business plan.’’
Festival-goers could buy tickets ranging from a Red or Green Bud Pass for $100 for one-day admission, to a Golden Bud Pass costing $300 for access to the whole venue, including a protest site, for two days.
Some festival-goers on social media have said that after the festival was moved to Southland, it didn’t matter which pass they had bought because access was allowed to all areas.
‘‘I’m not hiding from this. It’s definitely complicated, but I’m trying to raise as much money as I can,’’ Nicolson said.
Zeb Horrell, of Riversdale, opened the gates for the NZ Harvest Festival as a last-minute venue after being approached by organisers.
The festival was ‘‘a true endeavour in Kiwi ingenuity’’, he said.
‘‘It was a pretty positive event and it went down mean, but none of that has seen the light of day on social media.’’
‘‘Less than 20 people have asked for a refund . . . I’m not hiding from this. It’s definitely complicated, but I’m trying to raise as much money as I can.’’ Festival organiser Joe Nicolson