The saga of the ‘Blue Ridge Rock Festival‘ continues to unfold, with an attorney representing the festival, Jonathan Wilkofsky, having recently spoken with WDBJ7 on the fate of the event, as well as the ongoing wait for refunds for last year’s ill-fated edition.
The 2023 ‘Blue Ridge Rock Festival‘ was held in Alton, VA, and was cancelled on September 09th, days into its planned September 07th to 10th run. Slipknot, Pantera, Five Finger Death Punch, Limp Bizkit, and countless others, were among the extensive list of artists booked for the festival, which was battered by severe weather amid its opening night. That storm saw concertgoers evacuated from the festival grounds, along with damage to certain structures.
Logistical challenges associated with the venue itself (attendees being bused to and from a neighboring campsite, etc.) found some concertgoers complain of waits as long as several hours in entering and leaving the festival grounds, even without the added complications from said storm.
While the festival was able to recover the following day, and a number of artists were permitted to once take to the stage, the event would later be shuttered on the 09th, with organizers at the time citing severe weather concerns as being the reason.
However, since then, firsthand accounts and media reports emerged, alleging a general lack of amenities backstage, a shortage of experienced stage professionals, lengthy waits for transportation of gear and personnel, as well as claims of a general air of confusion and inexperience with organizing such an event.
Media reports featuring accounts from people claiming to have been employed by the festival also painted a grim picture. It was alleged that as much as “80%” of the stagehands, etc. had walked off from the festival on the 09th, after previously threatening a strike if their working conditions were not improved.
According to this past report from WDBJ7, stagehands, etc. were upset with a lack of proper sanitation, water stations, sufficient catering, housing and more, leading up to an ultimatum having allegedly been issued by workers ahead of a planned strike.
Meanwhile, the Halifax County Sherriff’s Office would report that the festival was also seemingly oversold by as many as 15,000 extra tickets than what festival reported. If true, the extra concertgoers could have potentially increased the strain on the event’s infrastructure.
Since the event fell apart, ticketholders have been seeking refunds, with organizers having remained relatively quiet on the matter. The festival’s official line remains that the festival was cancelled due to severe weather.
As for the lack of refunds being issued yet, organizers have said that their lack of communication on the matter is due to clauses in their insurance policy for the event, which prevents them from making detailed public statements.
Across the past few months, the insurance company holding the policy have been conducting an investigation into the exact nature of the festival’s cancellation. Should the actual cause of the festival’s cancellation be determined to be weather-related and applicable to the policy, the funds will then be released, with refunds then expected to be issued.
Speaking recently with WDBJ7 in a report filed yesterday, April 16th, Wilkofsky said that investigators for the insurance company have since reviewed close to 24 hours worth of testimony from individuals involved with the festival. According to Wilkofsky, organizers are awaiting to hear the insurance company’s decision on the matter. He offered:
“There were just a lot of moving parts to the events and the cancelation of the weather and the ticketing, and there’s just a million moving parts to it. It absolutely seems to apply under these circumstances, but they [the insurance carriers] are entitled to look at every aspect of the concert to see if that’s true.”
As for the flack and conspiracy theories the organizers have been the subject of since the cancellation, and the lengthy delay on refunds, Wilkofsky offered:
“There’s been a lot of rumors out there that somebody’s run away with the money and we’re stiffing the fans, and that’s absolutely untrue. There’s been no payment. There’s been no denial of the claim, we’re in the process of the investigation.”
As it currently stands, a decision on the claim is expected to be made within 30 days. Stirring the pot since the cancellation and resulting refund controversy, was the the pre-sale availability of tickets for a 2024 edition of the festival.
While that event still appears to be going ahead as planned, an executive producer for the festival, Cara Fischer, told the WDBJ7 last month that, “Tickets for 2024 are not currently on sale and have not been for several months while we work to provide a resolution to 2023 fans.”
According to Wilkofsky, money from tickets that were at one point purchased for the 2024 edition, has yet to make its way to organizers. He commented:
“That money has not been lost; it’s being held, which Blue Ridge doesn’t have it. I don’t know if it’s the credit card company or the ticketing, but it’s being held by somebody [that’s] not Blue Ridge. The hope is we’ll be putting on a show and that money will be providing for tickets, but it’s not like Blue Ridge is having the money [or] spending the money.”
As for the future of the festival, Wilkofsky asserts that the organizers remain committed to continuing the event, offering:
“They’re committed to the brand, and they’re committed to the future, so they’ve just got to sort this out and they’re committed to doing that.”
