A few weeks ago we wrote about Karoondinha Music and Arts Festival, mainly because breakout Boston band Ripe were added to a bill that featured performances by Chance The Rapper, The Roots, John Legend, Paramore, and PVRIS. Now, the rural Pennsylvania fest has been cancelled less than a month before it was set to begin, Billboard reports.
Co-founder and organizer Paul Rallis tells Billboard the reason for the sudden cancellation were a combination of escalating ticket costs and slow ticket sales. The fest was set to take place July 21 to 23 at Penn’s Cave & Wildlife Park in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, near Penn State University.
Last night (June 27), Karoondinha removed its website and deleted its Twitter. But it hope this cancellation turns out to be more of a postponement.
“The event as planned will not take place…,” Rallis tells Billboard. “We’re looking at other options at this moment and hope we can make something happen in some way. We’re not walking away from the vision of the idea in any way, because our commitment is still to make something great happen in this area — it’s just not going to take place on the scheduled days.”
Tickets were sold through Eventbrite, which released the following statement: “We care deeply about the experience people have with Eventbrite and go to great lengths to ensure all customers are treated fairly when an event is cancelled or significantly changed. We have been in communication with the organizers of Karoondinha, which has been postponed. We will work closely with them to process refunds as quickly as possible for those interested in cancelling their orders. Details on timeframe to follow.”
Billboard reports that Rallis and his sibling Kaleena raised $5 million from local investors to host the multi-stage, three-day festival, and they anticipated tickets sales coming in between 25,000 to 30,000. As promotional costs skyrocketed, ticket sales severely lagged behind their projection. Read more on Billboard, and check the fest’s planned lineup below.
Featured Ripe photo by CDAmedia.us.
