Karoondinha Festival cancelled
Another one down; following Pemberton, Mysteryland, Pointfest, and the total disaster that was Fyre Festival, yet another 2017 festival has been cancelled. This time it’s Karoondinha, which was due to have its inaugural weekend July 21-23 in Centre Hall, PA. Chance the Rapper was scheduled to headline, and the lineup also included Paramore, Sturgill Simpson, The Roots, Chromeo, AlunaGeorge, Mavis Staples, and Caveman, among others.
Karoondinha’s social media accounts disappeared earlier today (6/27), and their website reverted to a logo image with no links or other information. Billboard spoke with the festival organizers, who said that the costs associated with putting on the fest were too high, while ticket sales were too low.
A number of talent agencies said they started to hear something was wrong with Karoondinha several weeks ago and got concerned after calls stopped getting returned…
Kaleena Rallis (one of the people behind the festival) tells Billboard that one of the reasons the festival failed was because they spent too much on professional fees for marketing, publicity and site preparation. “There were definitely challenges posed as a result of the fees along the way,” she tells Billboard. “It has affected how we were able to execute the experience we wanted to create.”
They also say the decision to create a multi-stage, three-day festival for 30,000 far outpaced demand and that the event should have been scaled down closer to 8,000 attendees. Not only were ticket sales way off, but sponsorship sales also never came close to expectations, despite paying their sponsorship team $15,000 a month plus commissions on anything that was sold.
Karoondinha organizers say that their attorney is working with ticket seller Eventbrite on proceeding with issuing refunds to ticketholders.
Earlier this week, tickets for Karoondinha went up for sale at a discount on Groupon; however, a few days later, the sale was listed as unavailable, even though it wasn’t due to expire until July.
UPDATE: Karoondinha updated their site with a statement saying they intend to reschedule:
We are deeply saddened to announce that Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival will not take place during the scheduled dates of July 20-23, 2017. From the beginning, our vision was to create a unique destination experience that brings music fans and artists together for an amazing weekend in a beautiful setting. Our entire team has been working tirelessly to have the event take place as planned, but have found it necessary to reschedule. We are fully committed to returning and are working to confirm alternate dates and arrangements. To everyone who has believed in Karoondinha, we are thankful and hope to continue to earn your support in the future.
Meanwhile, Juscollege has begun initiating refunds for tickets purchased through their site, while Eventbrite issued a statement of their own:
We care deeply about the experience people have with Eventbrite and go to great lengths to ensure all customers are treated fairly when an event is canceled or significantly changed. We have been in communication with the organizers of Karoondinha, and will continue to work closely with them to process refunds as quickly as possible for impacted attendees
And Karoondinha ticketholders looking for alternate plans may be in luck, as Deep Roots Mountain Revival in West Virginia will honor three and single day passes.
Karoondinha has canceled their event… In an effort to shine a positive light back to music fans, DRMR will honor all their G.A. passes. pic.twitter.com/Lr18vp3C2b
— DeepRootsMtnRevival (@WVmtnrevival) June 28, 2017
