New Zealand festival company in liquidation

The promotion company behind New Zealand’s cancelled Echo Festival has gone into liquidation – creating more fears among punters about ticket refunds.

A message on the festival’s Facebook page announced: “After a long and what now seems pointless struggle it is with deep disappointment we must announce that it has been resolved to place the festival’s promoting company into liquidation.

“The festival and its advisers have been trying hard to identify an effective way to provide the project with a future and at the same time recover from the huge losses sustained over the last few months, but it is deemed that the task is too great.”

The liquidators are Simon Dalton and Matt Kemp of Gerry Rea Partners Auckland.

The two-day festival was to be held in Vector Arena in Auckland on January 11 and 12, with Disclosure and The Flaming Lips headlining. But promoter Paxton Talbot cancelled it last month due to slow ticket sales.

Echo was an experiment which failed. It was previously known as McLaren Falls Music And Arts Festival held at McLaren Falls in the Bay of Plenty. This year it changed its name to McLaren Valley Festival, hoping that its location of expansive rainforests, rolling hills and glow worm caves would create an experience similar to England’s Glastonbury and America’s Coachella festivals.

But “consent issues” with the local council saw Talbot move it to Auckland in October, and with it a name change.

The bill was to include a large contingent of Australian acts including Courtney Barnett, Alison Wonderland, The Preatures, Kirin J. Callinan and C.W. Stoneking.

Internationals Jamie XX, Mac DeMarco, Kurt Vile & The Violators and Young Fathers were to join New Zealand’s The Chills, The Datsuns, Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, The Phoenix Foundation, P-Money and Die! Die! Die!.

At the time of cancellation, Paxton expected all refunds made by December 17.

But the latest announcement stated: “We recognise there are still some people waiting for ticket refunds. The arrangements around this process have been fraught with problems and today’s development does little to alleviate that situation in the immediate term.”

New Zealand media has already reported of frustrated patrons taking to social media complaining of lack of refunds.

“We are deeply sorry for that,” the message said. “The liquidators will be continuing the work here to resolve any outstanding issues. We are offering the liquidators as much assistance as we possibly can. All creditors will be contacted.”

The ticketing agency Eventopia said it was waiting for the festival to “return the funds” so it could make refunds, and complained of “a lack of communication”. It emailed patrons, “It has now taken far too long and this is completely unacceptable.”

The slow refunds led the New Zealand Entertainment Operators Association – set up in 1965 to ensure high standards among promoters and venues – to release a statement some weeks ago condemning New Zealand’s regulations from completely protecting patrons.

“New Zealand is one of the last bastions of free enterprise when it comes to promoting entertainment events,” it said. “There is no regulation in this country to prevent anyone with the dream of successful event promotion from proceeding, selling through unknown or un-tested ticket companies, or from using ticket revenues paid in advance for their own purposes.”

It is expected that the association will push for greater regulation of new promoters and online ticketing agencies.

Recently Soulfest also cancelled due to low-ticket sales. No less than eleven festivals are being held over summer. Promoters are battling a weak Kiwi dollar, red tape, an over-saturated market and a more discerning audience.