EDM Fans Call Out S'pore's “Double Standards” & Offer Suggestions After FMFA Cancellation
Ugh, why does this always happen to us?!
By Samantha Khor — 09 Mar 2015, 06:06 PM
Fans of Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) were dealt with a huge blow on 6 March 2015 when it was announced that this year's event had been called off following the organisers' failure to secure a permit from Singaporean authorities
Obviously, the last-minute cancellation drew some pretty strong reactions from those who were all geared up to party this weekend
Naturally, many were disappointed and unhappy with the Singaporean authorities' decision to reject the event's permit appeal...
... Even going as far as to suggest that "double standards" are being practiced, as similar events such as ZoukOut went on without a hitch
One user took the opportunity to make fun of the Singaporean police's "serious concerns" of potential drug abuse by relating it to car accidents and sun burns
Singapore-based DJ/producer Stas Madorski - who was slated to perform in FMFA 2015 - also expressed his thoughts on the unfortunate news, saying that he felt "completely devastated" as he'd been dreaming about "playing on that main stage every night"
The organisers were not exempt from being blamed either, as some questioned why they began selling tickets and promoting the event before obtaining the necessary permits
Side Note: Lauretta Alabons, director of Singapore-based events company LAMC Productions said that it is a common practice by event organisers to market their shows and apply for licensing from the government at the same time. She added that it is the event organisers’ responsibility to convince the government bodies and educate them on the security procedures put in place for the shows.
marketing-interactive.com
Full refunds may have been promised to those who have already bought their tickets, but many who are flying in (or have already flown in) from overseas lamented having wasted a considerable amount of money on flights and hotel bookings
Speaking of refunds, some of last year's concertgoers haven't even gotten back their money after it was cancelled on the third day.
On the brighter side, some offered their two cents on how the organisers can still salvage the situation, such as hosting the artists in various clubs across Singapore, postponing festival dates, or hosting their own parties
Now that Malaysia and Singapore are probably not going to host FMFA anytime soon (due to obvious reasons), fans have some ideas on where organisers should take the music fest to next
Meanwhile, big names who were scheduled to perform in Singapore have yet to comment on the situation, but are now performing at Future Music Festival Australia
International DJs Avicii and Afrojack as well as The Prodigy, Knife Party, Nero, Bassjackers and many other artists played Future Music Festival in Australia over the last two weekends. They were also slated to perform at FMFA this weekend. Sad stuff.