Bands and staff at cancelled music festival owed more than £1m, union claims

Bands and staff who were supposed to be at a cancelled music festival are owed “well over £1 million”, a union has claimed.

Organisers of the Doune The Rabbit Hole festival due to take place in Stirlingshire in July cancelled the event permanently on Wednesday blaming a boycott and “campaign of misinformation” by the Bectu trade union and threatened them with legal action.

Attendees will not be given refunds, with ticket-holders being asked to contact their banks instead.

A statement on the festival’s website said: “Bectu were among those who forced our hand in saying we would pay ALL of our bills in advance to supply chain companies (whilst simultaneously working in the media to prevent the event from going ahead), as a result we have already paid out almost every single penny of the event’s income towards those deposits.

“That means the safest and quickest way for our customers to get a refund is to contact their card provider and explain the situation swiftly.”

But the union has hit back at organisers’ claims, saying they have amassed well over £1 million in unpaid bills to both bands and staff.

A joint statement released by Bectu, the Musicians Union and Equity on Wednesday evening said many of the headline acts from last year were paid nothing other than deposits.

The statement added: “In some cases bands are owed tens of thousands of pounds with no hope of getting their final payments, and this year’s cancellation will impact yet more bands and staff.”

Organisers of the festival and unions have been locked in a bitter dispute over the festival after unions asked for acts to be paid in full before they played at the festival.

The statement added: “As trade unions we have tried to have a constructive dialogue with the organisers of the festival, but the undertakings which were offered to us were not forthcoming.

“The organisers said that they would share sales figures in order to reassure us that they would make enough profit this year to begin to repay the debts owed by the previous festival.

“They stated their intention to repay those debts over three years. They have not provided any such information and that undertaking to repay those debts is now in jeopardy.”

The festival is organised by Craig Murray, the former diplomat and blogger, and went into liquidation in December 2022.

They planned to pay off debts still outstanding from the 2022 event, using profits gained from the next three years of festivals.

A statement appeared on the festival’s website on Wednesday evening saying organisers had done “everything in their power” to recover from the challenges of 2022.

It added: “We are so sorry to everyone that this is the outcome of all our efforts, we really, honestly feel utterly devastated to have reached the conclusion that we have to cancel the event.

“We are especially sorry to fans and families who have been looking forward to the festival as a big summer outing, and who have supported us through the last 11 months despite the difficulties we’ve faced.”