Thousands of fans waiting on €300,000 worth of refunds after they were denied entry on one day of the festival last year due to safety concerns following flooding now fear that they won’t be able to get their money back.
The event was set up by qualified vet, Dr Sharon Alston, in 2019 in a bid to raise funds for an animal welfare charity. The three-day festival was held at Palmerstown House, Co Kildare, but could not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, torrential downpours marred the event and there was some controversy after day-ticket holders could not enter on the Saturday due to health and safety fears.
Dr Sharon Alston initially told fans that they would all be refunded. However, it transpired that she did not have the correct insurance policy in place to cover reduced footfall and the company behind the festival ran into financial difficulty.
She set up a crowdfunding page last Christmas, inviting fans to become shareholders for €1,000 each in a bid to save the festival. However, this was unsuccessful as it did not reach the €1m target required.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 20th September 2024
In a post on Forever Young’s Facebook page on Friday, Dr Alston said: “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the cessation of Music for Animal Welfare Limited which operated the Forever Young Music Festival.
“Despite every possible effort we have been unable to secure the necessary funding to continue to trade. We are therefore left with no option but to seek to appoint liquidators to the company. This is not the outcome we had hoped for”.
A meeting of creditors of the company is due to be held on October 3.
The 80s nostalgia-themed music festival saw performances from Billy Ocean, Bonnie Tyler, The Human League, Squeeze, ABC, Kim Wilde and Bananarama.
Dr Alston had indicated back in May that there were “exciting developments afoot” as the festival was in negotiation with a new partner. She said an announcement would be happening in the coming weeks.
Some fans have been critical of the festival and claimed they had been blocked from the Forever Young Facebook page when they made complaints about not getting their refunds back.
In an interview with RTÉ consumer TV show The Complaints Bureau, Dr Alston responded to say that some people had gone against the “rules of the page”.
She said it was “an extremely difficult decision” not to admit some people into the festival, but health and safety officers advised they had to reduce attendance following heavy rainfall.
When contacted for comment, Dr Alston said: “I tried everything possible to get a resolution for our customers. If there had been any way of saving Forever Young, I would have done it. I’m so sorry”.
