THE organisers of a cancelled music festival have been left with a £169,000 debt, it has been revealed.

Hundreds of customers are still waiting for refunds for the £39 tickets for the I Am Music Festival after the event, due to take place in Colchester’s Castle Park, was cancelled.

A year on, the organisers have released a four-page statement to tell their side of the story.

They say total expenditure was about £174,000 and about £114,000 was paid before the event, approximately £37,000 from ticket sales and stallholders and £77,000 from personal loans for senior members. The remainder was due after the event.

No money paid to artists, suppliers and the police has been recouped. The £169,785 debt is made up of £60,000 owed to suppliers, £77,000 to lenders and £32,785 to ticket buyers and stallholders.

To date, only £4,215 has been refunded to about 100 ticket holders Their insurer has refused to pay and has been reported to the Financial Ombudsman.

The statement reads: “It is a huge shame all our efforts, good intentions and commitment over the years, to contribute to the development of our local community, have led to an outcome such as this.

“We never wanted it to turn out this way, where relationships between our customers and us, and between their businesses and customers, have been severely damaged, and where the efforts, hard work and commitment children and youngsters had put in to showcase their talents and contribute to their community have not been recognised.”

The organisers say their insurance claim has been turned down due to Colchester Council’s list of unmet requirements. However, they allege the council added requirements with just days notice.

Braintree and Witham Times:

The council issued a list of requirements in September 2013, and the I AmMusic team believe they complied with every point.

The statement says organisers were asked to attend a meeting at 5.10pm two days before the event, but were not told what it was about.

During this meeting they claim they were told the event could not go ahead unless they could produce receipts for toilets, emergency lighting, safety barriers and fencing. They were unable to contact the suppliers because it was after hours.

Organisers say on July 18, eight days before the event was due, they were told police involvement was no longer optional and were given four days to come up with £10,778, which they did.

Essex Police have refused to refund the money, saying extra officers were needed at the park in case people turned up.

The organisers added: “We were unable to make any statement until now because our main concern and focus were to recover monies and pay our creditors.”

The full statement can be found at gazette-news.co.uk A spokesman for the organisers said they did not expect to cover all costs via ticket sales, investing their own money and getting sponsorship.

The amount shown in the statement only covers the money received at the date of cancellation.

Read the full statement HERE.

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CAROL Gale, from the Stanwaybased Carol Gale School of Dance, was due to take her students to perform at the festival, and most of their parents bought tickets.

She said: “Why put this out now when they could have put it out straight away? It seems to be one excuse after another. It’s just a delaying technique.

“They could have been fundraising to get people’s money back. Insurance is their problem. I feel like they have got away with not paying.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We have a duty to ensure all public events are safe from crime and disorder.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to confirm to Colchester Council all measures were put in place to minimise any crime and disorder. The event was then cancelled. Due to the late cancellation it remained necessary to police Castle Park and the park and ride site at Colchester United Football Club.

“Police officers had to deal with suppliers and performers arriving, not aware the event was not going ahead.”

A Colchester Council spokesman said: “The organisers were given a substantial amount to time to arrange the event and put in place the safety features required.

“The problems involved security and safety regulations, including inadequate or no provision for emergency lighting, toilets, security staff and fencing.

The council and police agreed the festival was not safe to go ahead.”