Event Industry News

Beachdown organisers will honour all ticket sales

Beachdown festival bosses have told everyone their tickets are safe – after a sales company went into administration.

Trinity Street Direct Limited the company processing the £97.50 tickets for the August Bank Holiday festival went into administration leaving 750 customers fearing they had lost their ticket and their cash.

But yesterday Joe Pidgeon, organiser of The Devil’s Dyke event said the contract he arranged with Trinity Street means all tickets are safe.

Joe said: “We have attempted to send personal emails to everyone effected by Trinity Street reassuring them that their tickets are safe and any additions they paid for will also be respected.

“It’s a shame because obviously that company were in charge of a large number of our tickets but we arranged the contract very carefully so they paid us fortnightly – as a result we have only lost the cash on around 80 tickets and we’re happy to make that up to ensure everyone is at their ease.”

Trinity Street, who sold tickets for The Eden Project, Global Gathering and the Snow Patrol tour, went into administration in February this year.

Denise Robinson from Shoreham Beach bought her 15-year-old daughter Lilly a Beachdown ticket from Trinity Street in the winter only to find out by chance it had gone into administration.

She said: “It was only by going on the Beachdown website that I noticed there was something up there about it.

“It’s taken a long long time to find out what’s going on but I’m really pleased they’re honouring the tickets.”

Mr Pidgeon, who launched Beachdown for the first time last year, was left owing staff more than £30,000 after a tax rebate failed to come through on time.

It took more than six months for him to settle the bill.

He then faced another set back when his application for a licence to hold Bachdown had to be delayed after a bereavement amongst the organisers.

But he said things are now back on track for the festival and that luxury camping tickets have now sold out for this years event.

Mr Pidgeon added he was relieved he is able to honour the tickets for all the Trinity Street tickets and said he hoped ticket sales for 2009 Beachdown would exceed last year’s 9,000.

He said: “It took us two months to get the necessary information from Trinity Street liquidators to enable us to assure people – but now we can say we will get everyone their tickets even if we don’t get our money – no one will miss out.”