Artists unpaid after Peats Ridge Festival

A campaign has been launched to help recover money for artists and bands who played at the recent Peats Ridge Festival.

Hundreds of performers and production crew have been left unpaid after the New Year's festival in the Glenworth Valley north of Sydney.

Last week, Festival Director Matt Grant put out a statement saying the entity that runs the festival was being wound up.

As a result, Mal Tulloch from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) says hundreds of musicians, performers and crew members have not yet been paid.

Tulloch told the ABC "we don't think it's acceptable that people put on these festivals and can't pay the performers.

"We will seek the opportunity to recover that money and ensure that those people are paid."

Grant has released a statement saying he has been in touch with the MEAA and is working hard to find a solution.

The statement reads "I have been personally contacting all artists and crew who may be affected.

"The process for payment for artists is a legal one, and the liquidators have been speaking to all creditors to the Festival who have contacted them, as we have instructed all Festival suppliers to do from the moment we were advised liquidation was the only option facing the Festival.

"I have been open and transparent about what is happening and I have personally communicated with the vast majority of those affected including the MEAA.

"Peats Ridge has been an important platform for emerging artists for the past nine years, and has been one of the few major festivals in Australia that has given opportunities for emerging artists to perform in front of large audiences.

"I personally am pursuing every avenue to find a solution to the current situation, and am in communication with several parties regarding this."

Story posted at 10.41am 25th January 2013. Updated with full statement from Matt Grant at 3.09pm 25th January 2013.