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The 31st edition of the Gurtenfestival attracted over 78,000 visitors over the course of four days, marking a new Gurtenfestival record. Even a short rain delay during the performance of Placebo, the final headliners, couldn’t put a damper on the positive mood. Headliners included Franz Ferdinand, local heroes the Glanton Gang, Stiller Has and Büne Huber, Seasick Steve and Placebo who returned to stage after rain delay - Gurten was hit by a strong thunderstorm with heavy rain showers. In order to avoid any risks, the band interrupted their performance and returned half an hour later to complete their set despite the wind and rain. Even the first aid tent had good news to report. Numerous visitors were seen, but most cases required only minor treatments. Only three people had to be transferred to a hospital – considerably fewer than in previous years. When a pregnant woman showed up at the first aid tent, there almost was a premiere of a different kind. But in the end, she delivered a healthy baby at the local hospital. 64 live acts (25 of whom were bands from Switzerland), 61 DJ acts, 800 musicians, 1400 helpers, 78,000 visitors, and one unique atmosphere: these are the numbers of the 31st Gurtenfestival. More pictures: http://www.gurtenfestival.ch/de/gallery.
The first ever Alt-Fest, which had been scheduled to take place in Kettering on 15-17 August, has been cancelled - in a move announced by headline acts Gary Numan and Marilyn Manson via the social media. There was a deafening silence from organisers of Alt-Fest who remained tight-lipped apart from a post on their website that said "We at Alt-Fest HQ would like to sincerely apologise for our silence over the last 24 hours. Currently we are working all hours to deal with some extremely challenging & stressful issues for Alt-Fest. We will be able to provide an official statement with full information before Monday and answer any questions you may have at that time. We want you to know that we have been doing everything we can to take the right steps for you: our fans, friends & customers – we assure you we only have your best interests at heart.” Alt-Fest raised £60,000 in funding for its inaugural edition via Kickstarter earlier this year, double what organisers originally asked for. It's not clear what will happen to that money now, which has presumably been spent already. Rob Ferguson, of Transcend Music, tweeted: “The stoney silence from Alt Fest organisers is staggeringly insulting to all those who bought tickets or invested in their Kickstarter!”UPDATE: Organisers Missy and Dom Void have blamed low ticket sales, the last minute departure of an investor, a "costing error" and the usual cash flow traumas for the cancellation.
The pair wrote: "We were doing very well for a first year festival. We sold over seven and a half thousand weekend tickets, and as you were aware we had a great line-up with plenty going on. This, however, meant we had to pay [substantial band advances], with the remainder due just before and at the festival itself. Securing bands was not the only cost". They continued: "[Even] if we were to sell a minimum of another 1000 tickets between now and the festival, we'd have suffered a significant loss that we couldn't carry. This recently came to light based on a costing error and ... the fact that an investor unfortunately pulled out last minute. We were expecting to sell more tickets based on our line-up, and if we had sold just 3000 tickets more then we would have been over the break even line".
Festival Insights reports that a festival-goer died in hospital after falling ill at the Global Gathering festival. Shane Kirkwood, 20, from Coventry, was taken from the event to Warwick Hospital and died just after 1am that night. The cause of his death has yet to be established. A post-mortem examination is due to take place.
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