HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Ticket holders are in limbo after the cancellation of the Blended Festival scheduled to be held on November 19th and 20th at Perry Harvey Sr. Park in Tampa.
The event touted big musical acts like the Chainsmokers and Nelly, along with a 100-foot wine tent and culinary village, but it was cut short.
Matt Magnusson is one of many who bought tickets and he is now wondering if he will get a refund after the event was canceled.
"When we first heard about it, our very first response was I'm there. No matter what, Magnusson said.
That excitement was cut short on October 28th when he received a letter notifying him the event was canceled.
Now, he just wants a refund but said everyone seems to have gone MIA when he pushes for answers.
"I have tried emailing them. I have tried calling them. Social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, everything. No messages back," Magnusson said.
ABC Action News tried to contact the CEO of the event Sean Evans.
We received an automated email response that said, "Unfortunately, a rogue actor hacked the Blended Fest social media accounts and illegally posted information, some false and some true. Blended Fest will not take place as scheduled in Tampa, Austin and San Diego due to circumstances beyond the company’s control. We are working with entities and artists to take over the operations and hopefully reschedule these events.
We are also working expeditiously with events.com to provide appropriate refunds to those who purchased tickets, consistent with our terms and conditions, and to recover a significant number and amount of deposits paid to artists who will not be performing at these events.
Please direct all further inquiries to info@blendedfestival.com and please provide the following information in any correspondence:
- Name
- Email address used to purchase tickets
- Number of tickets purchased
- Order number (if available)
- Total cost of ticket(s) purchased
We ask for your patience in this process, and we will be in touch soon with any updates."
City of Tampa records show event organizers tried to pull a permit for the event in March, but city officials said the organizers became silent in October when city leaders asked for more information.
According to the city, as a result of a missed deadline by the event organizers, the city canceled the event.
Dillon Church performed at the festival in Nashville in September and was hoping to perform again in Tampa.
"What I think is that I don't think that their tickets sold like they wanted to and they spent more than they made and I think fell into a hole that they couldn't get out of," Church said.
When he performed in Nashville, he said on the surface, the event looked to be successful, but behind the scenes, it seemed disheveled.
Another vendor who was scheduled for this weekend's event told ABC Action News they were notified by their booking agent that the event was canceled and added their agent hadn't been paid and emails were bouncing back.
As for Magnusson, he and others are just hoping they can simply get their money back.
A representative with Events.com said all customers who bought tickets through their site would be fully reimbursed.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Johnny Gines in Public Relations with the Blended Festival, responded to a few of our questions.
What is the true and false information a 'rogue actor' posted on your social media platforms? Could you please clarify what is true and what is not?
"The account had not been hacked, and we felt obligated to share an update through our only line of communication that ticket holders, staff, contractors, sponsors, and investors were completely left in the dark by our CEO Robert Sean Evans. We are pleased to share that since our last post, ticket holders have been contacted and refunds by the ticketing partner platform are in process; however, the account will remain in our hands until we are formally relieved of contractual duties. The staff remains hopeful that My Wine Society/Blended Festivals Inc and R. Sean Evans does the right thing for his staff, contractors, and anyone in the community affected."
Could you go into detail about the 'circumstances beyond the company's control' - what exactly are those circumstances?
"That statement is from CEO, Robert Sean Evan’s out-of-office response. It was a ripple effect from the storm experienced in Nashville left the festival with some overall challenges, but instead of facing these challenges and problem solving with the team in order to successfully produce Tampa and reschedule Austin and San Diego, Sean ceased communication with his team, leaving any fallout of their shoulders with no answers to relay to ticket holders, vendors or talent."
What is the time frame in which ticketholders will receive their refunds? Have any refunds been given back as of today?
"We have been working diligently to have guests of the festival refunded. The reason we posted was for ticket holders to get answers."
