The sounds of the Pemberton Music Festival (PMF) have been silenced.
The popular summer show has officially been cancelled for 2017 as the organizers have filed for bankruptcy.
No formal notice has been given, but the concert has appointed international accounting firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) as the trustee to address the situation.
E&Y Senior Vice-President Kevin Brennan says the cancellation is because of low ticket sales.
“There’s been a vast decrease in the number of ticket sales compared to last year. They would have sold on average about 38,000 four-day tickets, and this year they’re at about just over 18,000 tickets sold on the same basis.”
BREAKING: @Pemberton_Fest cancelled. Company confirms on website. pic.twitter.com/6ISNQfkGb8
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 18, 2017
Brennan adds the concert has only been able to generate more than $8.2 million in revenue, while working with a $22 million budget.
He adds they now have five days to file an official bankruptcy notice.
“Ultimately, once the monies are recovered to the extent possible and creditors are known, they’ll be in allocation of the monies at hand to the creditors based on their amount of the claim and the total games.”
In a statement from the site’s FAQ section, ticket refunds will not be automatic as the festival has no ability to provide the money.
However, Brennan says customers who have purchased a ticket by credit card via a third party website still have a chance to be refunded.
“They should be making a claim in respect of the credit card company’s insurance, so that they can try to recover their ticket proceeds through that claims process itself.”
The concert was suppose to run from July 13th to 16th; featured headliners included Chance the Rapper, Muse, A Tribe Called Quest, and Tegan & Sara.
We’ve reached out to Timbre Concerts and Huka Productions, organizers of the event, but have yet to respond.
BREAKING: @Pemberton_Fest has been CANCELLED due to organizer bankruptcy; tickets will not be automatically refunded | #Pemberton pic.twitter.com/y6UNJ6S9b3
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) May 18, 2017