Kelowna’s Center of Gravity music and sports festival is set to take place this weekend, but it’s bad news for those in Ontario as the festival has been cancelled there.
The event organizers have announced that the Wasaga Beach festival – which was scheduled for Aug. 19-21 – has been cancelled. The decision was posted on social media and the official website on July 1 with organizers simply stating it was a “difficult decision to cancel the 2016 Center of Gravity event at Wasaga Beach.”
Festival goers will receive full refunds for tickets, but the announcement without an explanation has left many upset. Many have taken to Facebook to site their disappointment with the organizers.
“Absolute FAIL!!!! Don't put out the list and get everyone's hopes up,” said Matty Cousineau.
“Wish they would refund me for the festival gear I bought lol ....I've waited 12 years to see Tiesto. Very disappointed,” said Julie Ann.
Town of Wasaga Beach council issued a statement regarding the cancellation but have said very little about the decision.
“The Town was advised that this business decision was made at the discretion of the event organizers, after consideration of a number of factors. The Town was acting in an event-hosting capacity and, has been working with the event organizers over the past year to bring the festival to Wasaga Beach.”
Council approved the festival in principle in last June and gave final approval on June 28, 2016, just days before the cancellation was announced.
Center of Gravity will move forward as scheduled in Kelowna, but tickets for the three-day event have yet to sell out. With just one day to go, weekend passes, single-day passes, platinum passes and sports passes are all available.
A spokesperson for the company insists that ticket sales are currently up from last year, which also failed to sell out. Pyper Geddes has told KelownaNow that tickets are 70 per cent sold out.
This year’s line-up includes eight-time Grammy Award winner Skrillex, Dutch DJ/producer Afrojack, and hip-hop legend Ice Cube. The event will return to Kelowna’s City Park from Friday, July 8, through Sunday, July 10.
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