Founder’s fear for future of family festival
COMPANY BEHIND GERONIMO EVENT GOES INTO LIQUIDATION, LEAVING ARTISTS UNPAID
THE future of the popular Geronimo family festival is in doubt as the company behind it has gone into liquidation, leaving artists without payment.
Thousands of families packed into Arley Hall in Cheshire in May for what was the fourth year of the event, which was first held at Tatton Park in 2015.
But founder Simon Goldman says the festival – which has featured CBeebies stars such as Mr Tumble and Mr Bloom among its headline acts – has been a lossmaker and the investor team behind it have decided ‘they don’t wish to continue with the losses.’
The result is that the company Geronimo Festivals UK Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation – when artists and performers who worked at the festival have still not been paid.
Simon, a dad-of-seven from Salford, decided to set up the event, charging £30 for a day ticket, after running out of new things to do with his own brood.
He says that while Arley Hall was on the verge of breaking even, it was the event’s two dates in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, which attracted a crowd of around 12,000 instead of the expected 20,000, that proved to be the nail in the coffin.
And he says it’s largely the performers from those two dates who are out of pocket.
Simon, who stressed his newest venture bringing Winter Funland to EventCity is unaffected by the liquidation, told the M.E.N.: “Like with any liquidation, until it’s divided up, we can’t say what people will or won’t get.
“People from Arley were paid off after the event, there might be the odd one who wasn’t, but Knebworth is a separate entity and it’s the artists from there who haven’t been paid.
“Festivals take five years minimum to break even and it’s a shame because we were so close to breaking even with Arley.”
Simon did, however, set up a new company, Geronimo Events Ltd, in June and is hopeful that the event could still go ahead at Arley next year.
He added: “I can understand why people are angry, as I would be, and there is a lot of animosity.”
Performers who haven’t been paid have set up a Facebook group called Unpaid Geronimofest Entertainers.
Among those is magician Chris Frost who is furious with the way small businesses have been treated and says he’s received no apology.
He said: “I got paid for Arley but not Knebworth. I’m owed £200 but I know others are owed a lot more.
“In my view he doesn’t care about his suppliers and the livelihoods of those he uses. I’ve worked in entertainment for 14 years, all my adult life, but have never been so badly treated.”