Rewind 80s Festival puntersadvised to scalp their tickets

Thu 13th Oct, 2011 in Local News

There’s still be plenty of camp at the Rewind 80s festival (after all Right Said Fred is still on the lineup) but sadly there won’t be any actual camping as the three day event scheduled to be held in Kembla Grange near Wollongong has now been moved to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.

The downsized festival is scheduled to run from 29th and 30th October with a lineup including Bananarama, Kim Wilde and Cutting Crew, however festival draw cards such as Human League, Kool and the Gang, Candi Staton, The Straits and Sister Sledge have mysteriously disappeared from the lineup. The downgrade also takes the festival from the a purpose-built venue with a capacity of 30,000 to a venue that only has a general admission standing capacity of approximately 5,500 punters.

According to an article posted by the Illawarra Mercury “Rewind had been battling to attract corporate sponsorship from Sydney, with some fearing the concept was unproven while others had questioned why Wollongong was the chosen location.”

However, Rewind Festival director, Shane Sanderson, maintains that the weather is to blame for the late changes to the festival. In the press release announcing the downgrade he claims that “We originally chose the location for its beauty and versatility, believing the weather would complement an outdoor festival. However, as we have drawn closer to the date, it looks like heavy rains are likely to cause major problems so we had to make a decision. This is extremely unfortunate as we have worked closely with Wollongong City Council and Emergency Authorities to address a range of safety concerns but these ultimately added significant time and cost to the event. With a substantial percentage of ticket holders coming from Sydney, I feel confident that moving the Rewind Festival to Sydney Hordern Pavilion is going to please most and ensure a successful event.”

Angry fans have swamped the festival’s Facebook page to protest the decision and demand their money back, but in response to emailed demands for refunds the promoters have told fans that they should wait a little while and then scalp their tickets. Several aggravated punters have received a template email from the festival suggesting “Just a thought for you is the tickets you have will become very sought after in the next week due to the capacity been only 5500 at the new venue, I would suggest you wait a few days and you will probably find your tickets value will rise and you may even be able to turn a profit on your ticket posting on our face book page.”

The promoters also claim in a post on their Facebook wall that “The legal stance on this is the only way a refund will be given is in the event of cancellation or postponement, this is clearly printed on all sites you purchased from, fortunately majority of people are ok with this, the decision to move was a very costly and disappointing move for us, we have planned this event for over a year now. The camping passes will be the only part that’s eligible for refunds at this stage due to the camping been cancelled.”

They are also sticking by the story that the festival has been forced to move due to weather and safety concerns, telling fans: “Let’s make it clear here and now….the decision to move this event was just as hard to accept by us as it is by many of you, The main reason this event will not take place in Wollongong is due to safety fears over the site, We have walked the site again yesterday and feel we had no choice in moving, the rain is forcast for the next few weeks and the site would only become more unsafe.”

One of the mysteriously cancelled bands, The Human League have posted an official statement noting that “the decisions that have been made here by the Australian promoter of Rewind are NOTHING to do with us and were made entirely without us being consulted or involved in any way at all. We only found out ourselves that we were being taken us off the bill about eighteen hours ago and we have heard not a word from anyone since despite our requests for more information. We sincerely apologise to all our fans in Australia but this unilateral action by Rewind is obviously completely beyond our control.”

“This action by the Rewind Promoter in Australia will also force us to cancel our side shows in Melbourne we’re afraid because they were absolutely tied to the show in Wollongong and without it there is no way we can do them on their own. For example the promoter of Rewind was supposed to arrange all our Australian work permits and we are now aware that he hasn’t even applied for them yet but it is far too late for us to make alternative arrangements.”

FasterLouder will keep an eye on the festival as the news unfolds.