The organizers of the cancelled 2005 Wasted USA festival have posted a statement to their website.
With just 24 days to go ticket sales were less than 1000 and while we appreciate that buyers in the US do buy tickets a lot nearer the show we could not take the risk that the show would not break even.Added to this was the fact that the venue and other services and some bands were demanding tens of thousands of dollars in advance which we simply did not have, it was hopeless. When we do festivals in the UK/Europe, not many services or bands require up front monies and those that do tend to want them pretty close to the festival which means that because we sell lots of tickets in advance it all works out. This is not the case in the US and we are just not big corporate promoters with loads of cash in the bank. We rely on the support of the whole of the punk scene to put these gigs on and that support was not there.
The organizers mention that there is a salvage operation to put on a one-day festival on Saturday, October 8th, however nothing has been confirmed in terms of the bands, venue or other details. We'll post info on any shows that arise from the ashes of Wasted USA for the benefit of those stuck with plane tickets. Anyone with confirmed info feel free to contact Punknews.org.
Full statement:
Unfortunately we have no choice but to cancel the Wasted festival in San Bernardino next month. It has been an incredibly difficult situation and we have held out until the very last minute in the hope that it could be saved.With just 24 days to go ticket sales were less than 1000 and while we appreciate that buyers in the US do buy tickets a lot nearer the show we could not take the risk that the show would not break even.
Added to this was the fact that the venue and other services and some bands were demanding tens of thousands of dollars in advance which we simply did not have, it was hopeless. When we do festivals in the UK/Europe, not many services or bands require up front monies and those that do tend to want them pretty close to the festival which means that because we sell lots of tickets in advance it all works out. This is not the case in the US and we are just not big corporate promoters with loads of cash in the bank. We rely on the support of the whole of the punk scene to put these gigs on and that support was not there.
We are really very sorry that some of you will have booked flights, paid for hotels and will have lost money. We have been working on this for over two years and would have done anything to see it happen.
There may be a salvage operation to put a one day festival on on the Saturday so if any bands have booked flights then please let me know and Iwill see what I can do. As soon as I have information on who is going to play this gig I will put it on the website
Once again all I can do is apologise for this awful situation and hope that we can all bounce back from this.
There will be full ticket refunds available from the point you purchased them - some of them may take up to 30 days so please be patient. If you have tickets from tickets@wastedfestivals.com then you can either get a refund or swap it for a weekend Blackpool ticket for next year.
We really appreciate the lovely emails we have had from bands and people who were going to the festival and as always huge thanks for all your support, take care