A mere 7 days before what was set to be Africa's biggest festival, Tribeone has announced it's cancellation.
The festival opsted on Facebook in the early hours of the morning:
Inaugural TribeOne Festival Cancelled Johannesburg, 17th September 2014 - TribeOne Festivals regrets to announce that the inaugural TribeOne Festival, set to take place in Cullinan on 26, 27 and 28 September 2014, has been cancelled. The event was to be hosted by the City of Tshwane ("CoT"). Site preparation and related infrastructure development required to host the Festival, being the responsibility of the CoT, fell behind schedule to a material extent, such that it was no longer realistically possible to stage and deliver the Festival to the scale and quality that the organizers had always planned. Under the circumstances, and despite efforts to seek alternative arrangements, the organizers have had no option but to cancel the event. TribeOne Festivals apologises to all of those who were looking forward to the Festival – both the ticket holders, and the international and local performing artists who were booked by TribeOne Festivals for the event. All ticket holders will be reimbursed, details of this process will be announced shortly.
The Communication, Marketing and Events Department of the city of Tshwane has also released a statement:
It is with regret that the City of Tshwane advises that the much-anticipated Dinokeng TribeOne music festival which was due to take place from 26 to 28 September 2014 in Dinokeng, Cullinan, is in jeopardy owing to the event organiser’s intention to cancel the staging of the event. The event organisers have sent us the notification letter to cancel the event, but the City is challenging the decision in court. Although the City has, in good faith, supported the festival by providing a venue for the festival, installing the necessary infrastructure, and making an agreed financial contribution, the City recently learnt with shock of the event organiser’s’ ( led by Sony Music Entertainment Africa) unilateral decision not to proceed with the staging of the mega music festival. The organisers had chosen an open space which had no infrastructure whatsoever for the venue, and requested the City to develop roads, install water supply and electricity and prepare the stage area, all of which the City delivered. The City attempted to meet with the event organisers last week, in a last ditch attempt to salvage the festival. In fact, the City suggested ways to salvage the staging of this historic festival. Our suggestions were however rebuffed by the event organisers and our efforts were unsuccessful. The City has also learnt through various sources that the event organisers have apparently failed to meet some of their financial obligations to the suppliers they had procured to assist with the staging of the event. The City had, in good faith, associated itself with the SONY-led event organizers due to the credibility of the SONY brand. To have to inform music enthusiasts who had planned to attend and witness headline acts billed to perform in the three-day fiesta about these developments is regretful and disappointing, to say the least. The City has now approached the courts in a bid to keep the festival alive. The City’s last hope now rests squarely in the hands of the courts. Since the matter is before the courts, no further details on the matter can be divulged. Issued by the Communication, Marketing and Events Department
For once I think we can safely say that authorities are not to blame here. This is a recent update from a City of Tshwane employee:
Here are some more images showing how the City of Tshwane have done their part:
Network booster has been set up.
Water pipes have been installed and hectares of grass planted.
Brand new fencing
Apparently work is still continuing on site
As it has been only a few hours since the news broke, one can only speculate at the impact this has on the artists. Both local and international artists must be infuriated at this. Contacts often state artists are not allowed to perform whithin a certain radius from a festival for a certain amount of time before and after a festival. Artists and vendors alike have certainly been greatly impacted by this.
Critics from all over the spectrum has pinned the festival as a failure from the get go. Overestimations paired with inexperienced promoters are a recipe for disaster.
let's be honest, 100 000 people at a festival, in Cullinan of all places? Even Tommorowlad started out with only a few hundred people. It has taken Oppikoppi 20 years to progress to the place where it is today!
The EXTREMELY diverse line up was certainly my biggest concern. Fokofpolisiekar and Nicki Minaj at the same show? Not in a million years...
The cancelation of any festival is definitely a downer but let this serve as a warning to future promoters! Start small and get people who KNOW on your side...
