Slow sales see Oswestry's Fieldbounce festival cancelled

Fieldbounce Music Festival was set to take place on May 5 at Park Hall, Oswestry, with the likes of Scouting for Girls, DJ Danny Howard, Bez from the Happy Mondays and Dappy among the planned line-up.

Just last month 22-year-old festival organiser Shawn Melusi said that ticket sales had gone over the 5,000 mark, and more acts were being added to the line-up including a dance competition and a comedy tent.

However he confirmed on Thursday evening that the festival has now been cancelled.

It is not yet known how or when refunds will be distributed but organisers said they were taking legal advice before making their next move.

A Fieldbounce statement said: "First of all we would like to thank you for your support.

"As you can imagine we have received lots of emails and we will eventually respond to you all.

"The reasons for the cancellation of the festival are sadly down to lack of ticket sales and lack of sponsorship, which meant we were unable to meet our financial deadlines.

"We are currently taking legal advice on our next move.

"Again apologies for having to cancel the event, we will send a further update on refunds in due course."

Organisers had been hoping to attract 10,000 people to the day, with standard tickets costing £25 and VIP packages also available.

Plans for the one-day music festival were launched by Mr Melusi in October last year.

Back then he stated there was a gap in the market for a music festival in the area, after the former festival Osfest ended.

The driving force behind the festival was Mr Melusi’s charity work, having previously raised money for the Kenyan Schools Project and founded the Melusi Foundation.

A comedy tent was also planned, with well known stand-up comedians expected to attend.

But the announcement, which comes almost a month to the day before the festival was due to take place, has left ticket holders looking for answers.

One customer, Frances Annets, has bought festival and bus tickets, but said festival bosses were not answering emails or tweets.

Another customer on Twitter said fans who purchased tickets through the website Skiddle will get a full refund.

Any enquiries should be directed to info@fieldbounce.co.uk.