Promoter Good Vibes Promotions announced in a Facebook post yesterday the festival at the Trusts Arena would no longer go ahead.
“We really wanted to provide Paradise City Festival punters with the type of festival that we expect for our attendees, unfortunately due to low ticket numbers we were unable to provide this experience,” the post reads.
“These decisions are never easy, but that left us with no choice but for Paradise City Festival to no longer go ahead.”
The post directed ticket-holders to an email that had been sent out notifying them of the cancellation.
Those who bought a ticket to the festival would be able to get a refund, but the promoter noted it might take up to five working days for refunds to be processed.
Kiwi rock band Blindspott was to perform at Paradise City Rock Fest. Photo / Andy Macdonald
The post concludes with a promise to Kiwi rock fans: “We will focus on providing our live music fans with epic experiences in the near future.”
Kiwi rockers Blindspott were set to headline, alongside international acts such as alt-rockers Alien Ant Farm. Famed for their cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, the group were also planning a show at Meow Nui in Wellington on February 4.
Good Vibes Promotions' Paul Brommer told the Herald, “Ticket-holders for both shows were notified yesterday of this unfortunate news, once the festival was cancelled we had no choice but to also cancel [the] Wellington show.”
Alien Ant Farm pictured performing in Mexico. Photo / Getty Images
Brommer said he and his team were “still recovering” after announcing the cancellation.
“We’ve never had to cancel before. It’s an interesting market at the moment, my team are gutted as all we wanted to do was to deliver an epic festival.
“This year, with low ticket sales, we had no choice but to make the tough decision of cancelling,” he said, noting that the date of the festival - February 5, the day before Waitangi Day - may have had an impact on ticket sales.
Brommer said he hoped to deliver an “epic festival in the future”.
Other local acts announced in November included Pull Down the Sun, hailing from Whanganui, and Auckland groups Flirting with Disaster, The Boondocks and Written By Wolves.
Australian punk-rock group 28 Days and metal band Drowning Pool, originally from Texas in the US, were set to complete the line-up.
