Ticketing company Festicket appears to be close to collapse.
The company was founded by a small group of friends and music fans in 2011, after an abortive attempt to get to Coachella. Deciding to form their own firm, Festicket was born out of a desire to “gather the festival and live music community around a central booking platform to make things more open, aware and connected.”
Trading conditions since March 2020 have obviously been extremely fraught, and many promoters have cited this summer as being particularly difficult.
The platform – which Primavera Sound, Amsterdam Dance Event and Tomorrowland (amongst others) use to sell tickets – hit choppy waters this summer, entering a moratorium period in August, allowing it to take 20 days to find alternative funding to save the company.
That period has come to an end, leaving huge doubt over the company’s outstanding debts. Bristol club Motion have issued a statement, claiming that they are owed £300,000 by Festicket.
“Our event partners and Motion are owed in excess of £300,000 due to not receiving payments for tickets sold through their platforms,” the statement reads. “Last weekend, we had an event which sold out at 3000 tickets, the promoter still hasn’t received all of their ticket funds for the event.”
The news has understandably caused consternation with fans who have bought tickets through the platform –
The situation with Festicket / event genius cannot be allowed to happen. Promoters/venues/ticket holders are about to lose millions, the dealings are borderline criminal.
�� Cheeky (@StevenCeeMusic) September 16, 2022
Another festival ticketing, and travel platform is spiraling towards bankruptcy — @Festicket is on the verge of leaving many businesses and events on the hook for millions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/WWqjNRqzDM
— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) September 15, 2022
Another rip off for fans who can ill afford to lose money to companies who cynically take their cash knowing they are seemingly insolvent – this firm Festicket has been in trouble for months. https://t.co/BoR8QKGlm1
— Harry Mottram (@HarryTheSpiv) September 14, 2022
Festicket have yet to clarify the situation officially.
