‘City owes us festival fees’: Temple Boys slam late cancellation
|Published
LOST REVENUE: The Temple Boys
Residents were left high and dry when the latest Hanover Park Multi-Market Festival was cancelled at the last minute, while performers on the bill say they were not paid by the City of Cape Town.
The event this past Saturday which is, organised by the City, was supposed to take place in Hanover Park Avenue, featuring community acts as well as the Temple Boys, Ricky Opi Beat and Ashley Pienaar.
However, the acts said they were only notified of the cancellation on Friday night.
Spokesperson for the Temple Boys, Audrey Bianchi, says the group lost revenue as they had cancelled another gig in Beaufort West to perform at the City event.
“They didn’t even contact us to say that the event has been cancelled due to whatever.
“I mailed them to ask if everything was in order and only then they responded and just said it’s off. Bad communication and bad organising, they are not even prepared to give a cancellation fee,” Bianchi says.
The Multi-Market Festival is a free event and has so far taken place successfully in Manenberg and Uitsig.
Following Hanover Park, the next events are scheduled to take place in Mitchells Plain and Wynberg, but Bianchi claimed that after this experience, she is unsure whether the Temple Boys will take to the stage at any of these events again as the organisers are unreliable.
When the Daily Voice reached out to Ashley Pienaar, who was supposed to emcee the event, he confirmed that he also wasn’t paid a cancellation fee.
Ward councillor Antonio van der Rheede said the event has been rescheduled for next week: “I was disappointed as I know my community was looking forward to the event, including myself.
“The event is going to take place on June 24.”
The City of Cape Town said in a statement that it was the police’s decision to cancel the event.
“The event was cancelled at late notice due to serious safety issues identified in the area. The City was informed by SAPS that the risk rating had escalated and they advised us to postpone.”
The City did not respond to queries about the artists having not been paid.