Music fans left raging after two-day festival scrapped
Organiser accused of profiteering by withholding £1 handling fee
A TWO-DAY music festival featuring top acts from the 1970s and 80s has been cancelled after organisers failed to submit a “competent” public entertainment licence.
Manchester legends Happy Mondays were due to play Falkirk Stadium on June 3, with disco stars Gloria Gaynor and Village People topping the bill the following day.
The event was cancelled with less than a month’s notice – even though Falkirk Council told the organiser, These Events Ltd, that its application was invalid in April.
The organiser’s Facebook page was taken down and a misspelt statement issued via Happy Mondays’ social media page claimed “financial problems”.
Customers have received an email saying they will receive a partial refund. However, some who bought the £40-£45 a day tickets have accused the organiser of profiteering from the cancellation by withholding a £1 handling fee.
Maggi Taylor, 59, an advertising executive from Cumbernauld, said her family were “raging” at the firm. She said: “It doesn’t sound like much withholding £1, but if you multiply that by thousands.
“Plus, they’ve had all that money in the bank gathering interest since March. Why were they even allowed to sell tickets if they didn’t have a licence?
“I tried calling them and got a voicemail and I tried to contact them on Facebook but the page was deleted. Just pay our money back and walk away.”
Dodge Christie, a DJ from Falkirk, wrote on Facebook: “Giving money back less handling fee of £1. If this had several thousand people who bought tickets, then still quids in I bet.”
Heather Deeney wrote on the Happy Mondays’ page: “They’re refunding the money but charging £1 for the honour of doing this. It’s gonna be a long 10 days to wait and see account.”
The organiser’s statement said: “It is with much regret that we have to cancel the events. We endeavoured to bring something new and exciting to Falkirk and have failed due to licencing (sic) difficulties and subsiquent (sic) financial problems. All ticket purchasers have been contacted directly via email.”
Terms and conditions on the event site state: “The refund for tickets equals the face value of the tickets purchased plus booking fee but excludes any transaction fees.”
The council said: “No competent licence application was received. The company attempted to apply in April but had not provided the information required for the if it appears in my council to consider whether to grant the licence.
“Written advice was given of what was needed but no subsequent application was made. There is no difficulty with the council licensing events of this kind and it has done so for many similar events at the Falkirk Stadium in the past.”
Falkirk FC said: “These Events Ltd ... has today confirmed that owing to financial difficulties encountered by them, they are unable to proceed with the planned concerts.
“Falkirk FC’s sole involvement was the hire of the venue to the promoter and we regrettably are unable to provide any further information ... ticket holders should contact the promoters.”