ATP Again In Hot Water Over Cancelled Event
All Tomorrow’s Parties got themselves into a huge mess a couple of years ago when they cancelled the London Jabberwocky Festival a mere three days before it was scheduled to begin, citing high costs and insufficient ticket sales. And now, as Billboard reports, they may be in trouble again, with a miscommunication between festival organizers and venue owners putting several All Tomorrow’s Parties 2.0 events in jeopardy.
ATP 2.0, curated by Drive Like Jehu and British comedian Stewart Lee, was supposed to come to Pontins holiday camp in Prestatyn, North Wales from 4-15/17 and 22-24. The camp, however, is continuing to accept “family bookings” for those same weekends, which led some ticketholders to worry that the events had been cancelled. And indeed, when contacted, Pontins reportedly issued a statement claiming that “ATP has been cancelled by the organizers.”
ATP organizers, on the other hand, are vehemently denying that. “These events have not been cancelled, we’ll endeavour to keep you updated,” one tweet from ATP’s official account reads, followed by “We have just spoken to Pontins and we are currently resolving this miscommunication. Our events are going ahead as planned.”
According to Billboard, a booking agent for Pontins says that the two ATP weekends have yet to be “officially confirmed” because Pontins hasn’t received payment from ATP promoters, but as far as he knows, nothing has been officially cancelled either. And as for the family bookings, well, those families and ATP might just have to coexist for a couple of weekends. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens?
UPDATE: Billboard reports that the ATP festival has been moved, from Pontins holiday camp to Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, roughly 65 miles away from the original venue. Furthermore, notes Billboard:
According to a statement from ATP, all tickets purchased for the Drive Like Jehu weekend remain valid for the new venue, with those who purchased chalet accommodation offered alternative lodging at hotels close to Victoria Warehouse. Customers out of pocket due to transport changes are also advised to contact organizers by 25th March 2016 for assistance in rearranging travel plans.
Yeesh. Well at least they’ve given ticketholders six full business days to get all that sorted!