SCHAUMBURG, IL (CelebrityAccess) — In the wake of a failed country music benefit concert that was canceled at the last minute, some fans are still waiting for refunds.
According to WGN-TV, the “Freedom and Dignity Festival” was scheduled for August 10th at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg and billed as a benefit for local veterans, featuring country music legend Toby Keith as a headliner.
However, just days before the festival was scheduled to take place, event organizers were forced to canceled the concert, citing low ticket sales.
According to WGN, the event was being organized by Imagine Events, LLC in partnership with the Turkey Trot Foundation and event organizers hoped to make an estimated $400,000 from the festival, almost all of which was to be used to benefit veterans causes.
But as August 10th drew closer, ticket sales were far lower than organizers had anticipated with less than a third of the 12,500 available tickets for the event sold, WGN reported.
“We even went at the end (to) Groupon (as) a last-minute desperation measure,” Mike Birt of Imagine Events, LLC told WGN. “We offered those tickets at 50% off and they didn’t sell.”
Now, two months later, some fans are still waiting on refunds for tickets purchased to the event. Of the $287,000 dollars in ticket sales, Imagine Events, reported that it has provided refunds to about 70% of ticket buyers, with approximately $80,000 outstanding.
According to WGN, about $250,000 went for guarantees for Keith and several other artists who were booked for the festival, with “tens of thousands” more going to contractors and for advertising for the event.
Now, the festival’s joint account has run dry, with Imagine Events saying they were never paid for their services and the company and the Turkey Trot Foundation have gone to court over the matter.
Still, Birt told WGN he is hopeful fans will get their money back.
“We are working on it,” he said.
