All ticketholders have been promised a refund, and a post says inner city live music haunt Paisley Stage has “put their hands up to host a bunch of the artists”.
“We know times are tough right now,” the post said. “The cost of living is affecting everyone, and spending on events isn’t always at the top of the list.”
The event was to have been headlined with a DJ set by Kiwi electronic artist Sola Rosa, and other acts listed were Yurt Party, Tropical Downbeat Orchestra, Bitta Batta, Mon Shelford and Hawke’s Bay’s own Yes Yes No.
Tropical Downbeat Orchestra, Yes Yes No and Mon Shelford are now booked for Paisley Stage on Saturday night.
Event promoter Beth Elstone said purchasing trends for events had changed dramatically since the Covid years.
“Postponements and cancellations have become more common, the confidence to book tickets early has decreased, and there’s a growing uncertainty out there for attendees,” she said.
“When you couple that with the economic crisis and more and more people living week to week, it’s the perfect storm that keeps feeding the problem.
“The risk becomes much greater for anyone taking a punt putting events on.”
She said supporting “local homegrown events” helps create space and opportunity for audiences and artists
“Plus, it’s fun,” she said.
It’s “back to the drawing board” to see what changes could see it “back on the street” next year – maybe avoiding the Christmas rush, she said.
Napier City Council event manager and Hawke’s Bay Music Hub founder Kevin Murphy said the festival’s downfall was a warning to eventgoers of the perils of not getting in early.
The council supported the Collins St Festival, but Murphy said a tendency for those going to such smaller community events to leave booking to the last minute was putting the events at risk.
Promoters need to have the certainty they can go ahead, and he said: “If we don’t get people into the habit of booking early, then they’ll find more and more are being cancelled.”
“It’s not just locally,” he said. “If you’re promoting an event you need to know whether you can go ahead.”
He said “just under 1000″ were at the Collins St Festival when it was first held last year, and promoters were hoping for more.
He said he expected that, with the decision made when it was, ticketholders would be refunded.