CLINTON LINDSAY » GUEST RUNDOWNS » THE ABRUPT CANCELLATION OF THE 3RD ANNUAL ARIZONA REGGAE FEST, FRUSTRATES FANS AND VENDORS!

THE ABRUPT CANCELLATION OF THE 3RD ANNUAL ARIZONA REGGAE FEST, FRUSTRATES FANS AND VENDORS!

September 7th, 2015 | Add a Comment

By Jeff Van Sant—

Disappointed fans peered into the empty concert hall. (Source: KPHO/KTVK)

The decision to wrap the three-day festival early was made at about 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the promoter. (Source: KPHO/KTVK)

There was not mention of the cancellation on the event’s Facebok page until after 4 p.m. (Source: Facebook)

Tickets for Sunday were being promoted on Facebook as late as Saturday afternoon. (Source: Facebook)

Music fans are frustrated and trying to get refunds after what should have been the culmination of a three-day event

was abruptly canceled.

“We would like to first apologize for the delayed communication of announcing the cancellation of today’s show; due to unforeseen restraints and circumstances we were unable to continue the event,” reads a post on the event’s Facebook page. That post went up at about 4 p.m. Sunday’s concerts were supposed to start at 11 a.m. Tickets for Sunday were being promoted on Facebook as late as Saturday afternoon.

When we checked @AZReggaeFest Twitter feed Sunday evening, we saw no information about Sunday’s cancellation.

Would-be concertgoers who showed up to WestWorld for the final day of the AZ Reggae Fest were greeted by a sign announcing the cancellation. Tickets for the day ranged from $35 to $85.

Other than those “unforeseen restraints and circumstances” mentioned on Facebook, no reason for the cancellation was given.

Music fans are not the only ones who are frustrated. Vendors said they saw only a small fraction of crowds they were promised. Expected roughly 25,000 people, vendors we talked estimated that about 2,500 people attended the festival Saturday. Several vendors said they did not even recoup the fees they paid to take part in the festival.

Warrior King

People who attended Saturday said only one artist performed even though several were on the schedule and mentioned on both Twitter and Facebook.

One artist who was supposed to perform Saturday said the promoter canceled him at the last minute.

“All pre-sell tickets purchased for today’s event will be refunded to the card they were purchased on,” according to Sunday’s Facebook post, which directs people to email questions and concerns to azrf@gmail.com.

“As you can imagine we are being flooded with calls and emails so it may take a little longer for a response but please know that we are doing everything we can to respond to you as quickly as possible,” the post continues.

The promoter also said he planned to meet with the vendors and hopefully work something out with them.

Artists on the schedule for Sunday include Warrior King, Pato Banton, Tribal Theory, Uproot and Rastafarmers

There was no mention of the cancellation fiasco on the official event website. The promoter said he did not have access to the site or to the event’s social media accounts.