Bloc Festival company goes into administration

The company that promotes Bloc Festival has gone into administration following last weekend’s crowd-management problems, which led to the event being shut down on its first night, CMU has reported.

It is unlikely that the company will be able to refund everyone who bought tickets due to most artists being paid 50 per cent of their fees upfront and many of the event’s operational costs having already been met. As tickets were bought directly from Bloc promoters Baselogic, ticket-buyers are likely to rely on their credit card companies for compensation as there is no ticket agency between customers and promoter.

Promoters said: “It is with great sadness that we announce Baselogic Productions has been placed into administration following the events of Friday evening. The team are working hard with the administrators to investigate the issues that led to the close of the event and people will be updated as and when we have new information. We ask that you allow the administrators time to conduct a thorough investigation so we can establish the facts. Once again we would like to apologise for all the frustration and disappointment this situation has caused and thank everyone who has supported the team over the years; your continued support means so much to us.”

Administrator Parker Andrews said in a statement: “On July 11th 2012, Baselogic Productions, trading as Bloc, voluntarily entered administration. The appointed administrator is Jamie Playford of Parker Andrews Insolvency Practitioners. An investigation into the facts leading to Baselogic Productions and the administration will be conducted immediately by Parker Andrews and a further statement will be issued in due course.”

Playford added: “It is important that we understand the full facts including what funds will be available to creditors and ticketholders and to ensure the information we provide about the next stages of administration is clear and concise.”

Although many customers remain angry about the cancellation of Bloc Festival, there is some support for the Bloc promoters, especially within the industry, feeling that a good brand and good event has gone under due to considerable misfortune. However, it appears that many will be watching to see if the actions or decisions of any specific individuals or organisations were directly to blame for last Friday’s problems.

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