The performance of the Weekend Festival changed at the last minute. The festival crowd was disappointed with the cancellations and the fact that the tickets will not be refunded.
Post Malone will not be performing at the Weekend Festival. AOP
Post Malonen was scheduled to perform at the Weekend festival in Hämeenlinna next weekend.
Over the weekend, the festivals were told that the Post Malone gig had been canceled. Rezz and A1 x J1 also canceled their performances at the festivals.
The fate of the performance of Yankee rapper Lil Tjay, who is attached to the festival, is still open, as is his condition anyway. The rapper was shot last week and is currently in the hospital.
On social media, the festival organizer said the reason for the cancellation of the first three performers is “the challenging logistics problems caused by European festivals”.
– There have been production and logistical challenges that were tried to be solved, says the festival’s promoter Hardi Loog To the evening newspaper.
Post Malone will perform on June 29th. In Denmark and 2.7. In Sweden. He was scheduled to take to the Weekend stage on Friday, July 1st.
According to the logic, the “really busy” weekend brought its additional challenge.
– Finland is here between Sweden and the Baltics. You have to take a ship here or come through the Baltics. It was starting to become impossible, Loog says.
– We are trying to find goods, similar items, but it took a challenge to perform the gig.
Loog says he means a stage technique that allows for just the kind of show the artist is doing. He says the decision was eventually made together with the artist.
– It was a joint decision when it was not made to work. The situation in Europe has changed so much, Loog says and continues, that before the technology could also be rented from Russia.
Rae Sremmurd is now the lead performer replacing the weekend on Friday.
Loog says Rezz again canceled his entire European tour. A1 X J1, on the other hand, would not have arrived in Finland on time, and the change of performance date did not help anymore, as the band had a full calendar.
No money back
On social media, many are upset about performers ’cancellations and ticket buyers want their money back.
– The principle has been that daily tickets can be exchanged for another day. The three-day festival pass is non-exchangeable and there is no return system. The festival is sold as a festival, not as a gig for Post Malone. If Celine Dionin the gig would be canceled, those who bought the ticket would get their money back, Loog argues.
– Most, 96 percent of the tickets have been purchased for three days, Loog says.
He says ticket sales have lived at the mercy of corona news, but sales have finally met expectations.
The festival crowd has become even more upset, as the opportunity to comment on the festival’s official Finnish channels has been limited. Where does such a decision come from?
– The comment fields have been closed purely because this is a happy event. We decided that when you post negative news (performer cancellations), it is better not to spread the wrong information and get on the wrong tracks. This is how other festivals have worked, Loog says.
Weekend announces the situation of Lil Tjay even before the festivals.
– These must have silk gloves on. There are agreements and confidentiality obligations, and we cannot make our own decisions. On the other hand, you have to be friendly to your customers and keep them up to date – while respecting the contract with the artist, Loog says.
The Weekend Festival will be held for the 10th time this year. Atte Mäläskä