The organiser of the cancelled Heaven on Earth Music Festival says he has refunded the majority of those who bought tickets and insists he never planned to run away with people’s money.
About 800 tickets had been sold.
His mistake, Mark Mifsud Tommasi admitted, was that he did not make it clear on Facebook or on his website onedreamentertainment.com that he would be refunding ticket holders. The removal of his Facebook profile, he said, was purely due to unrelated, personal reasons.
The 23-year-old, who forms part of One Dream Entertainment, had planned to hold what was being billed as the “biggest music festival” in Ta’ Qali between September 4 and 8. He said he had budgeted carefully and was distraught to be told by the authorities, last week, that he had to pay a bank guarantee of €11,600.
I honestly never had any intention of committing any wrongdoing. I wouldn’t dare
“I had already paid a bank guarantee of €5,000 and was not aware of the extra €11,600. I had not budgeted for it and it was too short notice for me to source the funds. It was also too late to change venue. So, very reluctantly, I decided to call the whole thing off.” Mr Mifsud Tommasi said he had already forked out about €25,000 to contract eight foreign DJs, including Junior Jack, Matt Nash and Michael Gray. He produced receipts to prove this.
The ticket reservation system asked people to leave their name, surname, e-mail address and mobile number while purchasing so Mr Mifsud Tommasi was able to contact every ticket holder.
He said he knew most of the people who purchased the tickets as many were friends of friends and mixed in the same circles.
On Monday, he was summoned by the Żabbar police station following reports filed by three people claiming Mr Mifsud Tommasi had not refunded their gold VIP tickets, valued at €300 in total.
Mr Mifsud Tommasi said he immediately paid them the full amount on the day, again producing a receipt signed by a police officer.
“I knew the three people. They had phoned me a few weeks before the festival was cancelled, telling me they had changed their minds about attending and wished to have their tickets refunded.
“I agreed to their request. I only asked them for some more time while I sorted out my accounts. Then, on Monday, they filed police reports. I was hurt that they would try to tarnish my name in that manner.”
There are about 20 people who had still to be refunded, he said, insisting that the vast majority had been given their money back. Luckily, he added, he had the foresight of not touching the money he had collected from ticket sales.
“I honestly never had any intention of committing any wrong-doing. I wouldn’t dare; there’s too much at stake.
“I have been refunding people since Tuesday. The vast majority have all got their money back and the rest will be receiving it very shortly,” Mr Mifsud Tommasi said.