Fieldbounce Music Festival: Organiser 'truly sorry' and insists everyone will be repaid

Fieldbounce Music Festival, launched by Shawn Melusi, was due to take place on May 5 at Park Hall in Oswestry, with headline acts including DJ Danny Howard, Scouting for Girls and Dappy.

However the festival was axed due to lack of ticket sales a month before it was due to take place.

Some ticket holders have received refunds, and over the last year others have been demanding answers from Mr Melusi.

Statement

The festival director has now issued a lengthy statement, eight months on from the cancellation, stating he was advised to close his company and move on, but he has chosen not to do that and insisted he will pay people back.

He said £6,000 worth of tickets and vendors fees are outstanding, and he is in the process of putting a plan together to meet the remaining refunds.

He said he tried to bring something good to the area and stated: "I'd like to apologise for the delay in sending this out and closing everything off. Over the past nine months I've been getting advice from professionals on how to deal with the situation long term.

"The advice I received was to close the business and pretty much hide away from the problem and move on. However, the limited company is still active and I have full intentions of refunding the remaining ticket purchasers who supported the event.

"I tried to bring something good to the area. The festival failed due to lack of ticket sales, the financial plan and the lack of experience in certain areas, all of which I take full responsibility for.

'I did try my best'

"Please understand I did try my best to make it happen and had the best intentions throughout.

"Personally with my own investment, I have lost over £40,000 which I'm now working three jobs to recuperate and repay.

"I'm only sharing these financials to show how much I wanted it and believed in the event.

"Most importantly to the people who purchased tickets, I would like to thank you for supporting the event.

"You are entitled to be angry with me and I'm sure for most of you this won't relieve the fact you are yet to receive your refunds but this will hopefully shed some light on everything for you."

Mr Melusi also thanked the people who gave up time to help him organise the festival before it was cancelled, and added he was truly sorry for the situation.

He added: "I had initial second thoughts of sharing this with everyone but it is important to sometimes share your failures, the struggles and not to run away from problems and to show that you can get back up and go again.

"I haven't used Facebook personally for many years but I have now re-opened my account so if anyone wants to contact me directly, I will be sure to respond.

"Finally I would like to thank the ticket sellers, my team who gave up all their time for free, and everyone else who supported me throughout the whole process.

"Again I am truly sorry."