Reports that The First Days Of Freedom Festival has been cancelled | Festival News

The First Days of Freedom Festival Notice on The Official Facebook page
As somebody pretty heavily involved in the festival (although not the main organiser) I would like to make a general comment on todays update and address the general points being made..

Although I doubt all will want to believe it, I can tell you for a fact that this festival was not a scam in any way. Up until a few days ago everything was going ahead as planned - admittedly there were certain issues with promotion, which in turn had a knock on effect to todays announcement - but it was all legit!

ALL the main artists announced were booked and confirmed, as was the venue, security, police arrangements, production etc.. EVERYTHING was taking shape. The video drop from Professor Green, shout out's from Benga etc.. should all be enough proof that things were confirmed.

It was a huge project to undertake, something key members of the organising team have spent years working on. Taking it from a dream, through the funding routes and eventually resulting in things "actually happening".

I accept the cancellation has annoyed/upset people - you don't realise how much it has affected us. We have spent the past few days doing everything we possibly could to find a solution to prevent a total cancellation but unfortunately based on timescales between now and the actual event date, as well as the total remaining costs involved in pulling it off, it wasn't likely to result in a positive outcome.

Over half of the event has already been paid for by the investor who agreed to back it - a decision that he reconsidered last weekend. Being an investor who has no past experience in the event industry, the slightest "hiccup" sparked concern resulting in a change of mind. Upon the remaining funds being stopped, we were simply unable to run the event to the standard it deserved to be and so left us with no option but to pull the plug..

I put my hands up to accepting the festival had its problems/differences to other events such as the late launch, lack of promotion, strange ways.. We're not a massive team, and maybe it was too big a project for such few people to manage effectively - all I can say is that we all gave it our best!

Despite the current bad feeling, credit is due to 2 main people behind this. The efforts, passion and belief they put into it, as well as the working hours over the past few years was truly incredible. This was their dream!

I hope the above addresses any concerns brought up. ALL tickets purchased already will be refunded in full via the route in which you purchased them. You will not lose any money so please do not worry.

Its a great shame the event has ended in this way - annoying for everyone, but its just one of those things.. I'm sure you would have preferred to accept the event has been cancelled now as opposed to us trying to run it still and make it a weekend you regret attending.

Finally - for those of you who still stand by your belief of this being a scam - what have we actually achieved from it that would benefit us?

If you have any questions not covered in the above i'll happily address them in the best way I can. As said, I may not be the main organiser but a lot of you have been talking to me through this page, especially promoters.