Some of the fans who spent hundreds of dollars for tickets to this year’s Pemberton Music Festival — only to see festival organizers declare bankruptcy — are now able to exchange their unusable tickets for a general admission pass to Port Renfrew’s Tall Tree Music Festival.
Pemberton ticketholders were told last week that the event, set for July 13-16 at a site near Whistler, was cancelled and they would not be receiving refunds. Now, they are being given the opportunity to visit one of Vancouver Island’s most popular music festivals.
A pass for the Tall Tree Festival, set for June 23-26 at Brown’s Mountain, normally costs $200.
The event drew 2,000 fans in 2016 and has often reached capacity during its seven previous editions, said Emmalee Brunt, communications manager for Tall Tree. The exchange program, which goes into effect today, is being limited to 250 general admission festival passes on a first-come, first-served basis. An estimated 18,000 tickets for the Pemberton Music Festival had reportedly been sold at the time of the cancellation.
“This idea came from empathy,” Brunt said. “We’re avid festivalgoers. We wanted to offer these people the ability to attend a festival this summer. And this allows us to bring new people who otherwise may not have attended Tall Tree up to the mountain.”
Pemberton passholders will need to show proof of purchase to participate in the ticket exchange. They will also be required to purchase a $100 camping/early access pass valued at $120. The majority of Tall Tree attendees camp for the weekend, due to its remote location.
The demise of Pemberton, once among the top-grossing festivals in the world, sent shockwaves through the worldwide festival community last week. Lollapalooza Festival co-founder Marc Geiger, now a talent agent and partner at William Morris Endeavor in Los Angeles, wants organizers to be prosecuted.
“We’re going to pursue all of these people to the full extent of the law,” he told Billboard magazine. “They should not be able to run away from this. You can’t do this much damage to the festival ecosystem and think you can get away with it.”
VIP tickets for the now-defunct festival were priced at $1,800 this year. Headlining acts Chance the Rapper, Muse and A Tribe Called Quest were deemed a tier below 2016 headliners Pearl Jam, Snoop Dogg and The Chainsmokers. In 2016, the event averaged 45,000 fans per day.
Pemberton’s demise followed the end of B.C.’s other large-scale music event, the Squamish Valley Music Festival, which ceased operation in 2016. In March, organizers of Colwood’s Rock the Shores festival announced they were skipping the 2017 edition to ensure a return in 2018.
Brunt said Tall Tree organizers created the ticket exchange to help preserve the festival atmosphere on the West Coast. “First and foremost, it’s about giving back to the wider festival community. We don’t want festivalgoers to lose faith.”
Ontario’s Way Home Festival has offered a similar ticket-for-ticket exchange, but Tall Tree’s proximity to the Pemberton area is a big bonus for Vancouver Island festival fans, Brunt said.
“We’re a B.C. festival offering an exchange to another B.C. festival. This is a great option for people in this area.”
For information on the ticket exchange, visit talltreemusicfestival.com.
