Those of you with an eye on social media will have noticed the rumour mill go into overdrive yesterday when members of bands booked to play at Alt Fest starting posting that it had been cancelled. It started with bands from smaller stages but progressed to headliner Marilyn Manson posting on his website that it was cancelled. Even the organisers of the Steam Punk stage were seemingly in the dark, stating that they had received no notification but that they were looking into alternative venues for a steam punk only alternative event.
There was no official response from anyone involved in Alt Fest until today, when this was posted on their official Facebook page:
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.
Missy and Dom
Judging from the comments on social media, the failure to respond yesterday has resulted in many disgruntled punters cancelling travel arrangements and requesting refunds. Whatever the official problems behind the scenes, whether Alt Fest can survive after this remains to be seen.