Major New Year’s Eve festival is CANCELLED as organisers plead for ticket-holders to accept their apology – and reveal the reasons for axing it
- A New Year’s Eve pride event scratched off the calendar amid ‘safety issues’
- Tropical Fruit’s Wild Hearts festival cancellation was confirmed on Friday
- It was axed due to lower-than-expected ticket sales and high production costs
- Organisers also said ‘critical safety concerns’ contributed to canning the event
- LGBTIQ+ community group offered their ‘deepest apologies’ for cancelling it
A gay new year’s eve party has been cancelled after organisers failed to sell enough tickets amid ‘critical safety concerns’.
The Wild Hearts festival was due to kick off on December 31 at the Lismore Showgrounds, followed by a recovery party heading into January 2, 2023.
But the shindig celebrating ‘hearts that cannot be tamed’ was canned on Friday, with organisers at Tropical Fruit Inc sending out their ‘deepest apologies’.
The Wild Hearts festival (pictured) was due to kick off on December 31 at the Lismore Showgrounds, followed by a recovery party heading into January 2, 2023
‘It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of our flagship New Years “Wild Hearts” Festival for 2022,’ the LGBTIQ+ community organisers announcement read (pictured)
‘It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of our flagship New Year’s “Wild Hearts” Festival for 2022,’ the announcement read.
‘Unfortunately, lower than expected ticket sales, high production costs and critical safety concerns at the event site have meant that the event is not viable this year.
‘We understand the impact that this decision will have on our community and we hope that you can accept our deepest apologies.’
The event planned to have a camping ground set up for travelling ticket holders to stay, a cabaret show and all-night dance music across three floors.
It also would have hosted a ‘smashing line-up of DJs’ and NYE fireworks.
Festival-goers who had purchased tickers will be contacted in the coming days regarding refunds or credits, the organisation said.
‘We understand the impact that this decision will have on our community and we hope that you can accept our deepest apologies, the Tropical Fruit organisers said
The cancellation comes after organisers for the group in the NSW Northern Rivers’ region told fans the NYE event was ‘definitely going ahead’
It comes after organisers for the LGBTIQ+ community group in the NSW Northern Rivers’ region told fans the NYE event was ‘definitely going ahead’.
It said this despite the group being a ‘bit behind schedule’ due the extreme flooding unleashed upon Lismore last February.
The town was destroyed by a record-breaking flood just five years after suffering a one in a 100 year flood in 2017.
It followed earlier floods in 1989, 1974 and 1954. A levee installed after 1999 held back rising waters in the early 2000s – but nothing could stop the recent floods.
The community saw harrowing scenes of people trapped on the roofs of their houses and desperate social media calls for assistance.
Around 1000 rescues were conducted in the northern rivers area, with the inland town tallying up a massive 130 floods in the last 150 years.
The feat has earned the town the gong for the most flooded postcode in the country.
It said this despite the group being a ‘bit behind schedule’ due the extreme flooding unleashed upon Lismore last February
Lismore was destroyed by a record-breaking flood, just five years after suffering a one in a 100 year flood in 2017.
The event planned to have a camping ground set up for travelling ticket holders to stay, a cabaret show and all-night dance music across three floors
Lismore (pictured) in northern NSW is the most flooded postcode in Australia