Promoter behind Timeless Summer Tour and Juicy Fest NZ enters liquidation

Following reports that purchasers of tickets for the cancelled Juicy Fest NZ and Timeless Summer Tours had been frustrated in obtaining ticket refunds, the festival promoter behind the tours has entered liquidation.

Juicy Festival Limited, Timeless Events New Zealand and Timeless Events Australia Limited were placed into liquidation as of last Friday, with Blacklock Rose's Ben Francis and Garry Whimp appointed as liquidators.

Christchurch-based Chris Lynch Media first revealed the scale of the fallout, with ticket holders struggling to obtain refunds following the pre-Christmas cancellations.

JuicyFest, which completed its Australian tour in January, had been due to tour a four-date, single day event featuring Ludacris, Fat Joe, Akon and Jay Sean, at venues Tauranga, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

However, the RnB music festival advised prior to the tour that “after much consideration, we’ve had to make the difficult call to cancel Juicy Fest in New Zealand and we will be working through the refund process.

“This situation is solely isolated to Juicy Fest New Zealand and does not impact Juicy Fest Australia, which will go ahead as planned.”

In December, the Timeless Summer Tour, which was scheduled for debut events throughout Australia and New Zealand with a lineup that included Boy George, Little River Band, Bonnie Tyler and Starship featuring Mickey Thomas was initially postponed.

An email sent to Timeless Summer Tour ticketholders from festival organisers, seen by Rolling Stone AU/NZ, later advised of the cancellation, explaining “we have found ourselves in this gut-wrenching position after losing three of our sites on the New Zealand tour. We were sharing the infrastructure at three sites with Juicy Fest New Zealand, but when that event was cancelled it was no longer viable to run these shows.

“Unfortunately, it was not a matter of simply running the tour without the three shows due to the company’s contractual obligations. Postponing the tour was the only option available.

“We have been working hard to reschedule this event, but we have not been able to come up with new dates that will work for the majority of the artists. We were left with no option other than to cancel the tour and, due to the significant expenses we incurred with this cancellation, Timeless Summer Tour has been placed into liquidation. It is heartbreaking to be in this position now and the last thing we want is for anyone to be negatively impacted by the liquidation.”

In a separate email to Juicy Fest NZ ticketholders, organisers blamed liquor licensing restrictions for having created “significant and unexpected costs” that forced the company into liquidation.