This year’s Isle of Man Festival, which DCU SU had partnered with, has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
The music and arts festival was due to take place on July 6th on the island, with rockers Primal Scream and songstress Paloma Faith set to head the bill.
An official statement released by event organiser Chris Heyes of Rockingmann Festivals, pointed towards an island community reluctant to embrace a music festival, as well as difficulties experienced by Irish and British travellers in organising a weekend trip to the event.
“Even with our fantastic sponsors on board, we just haven’t been able to sell enough tickets to make the event viable this year”, Heyes stated.
“Despite the Island being relatively easy to get to from the UK and Ireland and our ticket prices being very competitive at only £55, I guess it’s easier to just go somewhere that you can easily drive to without a ferry or a flight.”
DCU SU had promoted the festival on the organisers’ behalf, receiving payment as well as four free tickets in exchange for this service. These tickets were given away through a facebook competition to outgoing third year Gaeilge agus Iriseoireacht student Paddy Carberry, who was looking forward to the day.
Incoming SU Welfare Officer Lorna Finnegan said the SU were very disappointed to hear of the festival’s cancellation. Despite generating interest amongst Irish students, the festival’s scheduled July 6th date was very close to other Irish concerts and festivals including Sea Sessions and the Phoenix Park concerts. Finnegan believes this may have made it prohibitive for Irish students to attend, with British students placed in a similar situation with many established British festivals also taking place this summer.
She is convinced of the importance of live music events as a social outlet for students and is eager to continue to provide students with cheap and non-alcohol-orientated entertainment options during her tenure as Welfare Officer.
“I think live music events are a must for student life; not only are they a great way of socializing and meeting new people, but they are a great way to relax and de-stress in a way that is not alcohol-orientated”, she said.
Heyes, meanwhile, is now faced with the task of unravelling “the situation for all of those who have bought tickets, won competitions and made travel plans to the Island that weekend”.
Anyone who had purchased tickets for the festival is asked to contact chris@rockingmann.com or their ticket provider for a full refund.
Sarah Bermingham
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