Organisers of the troubled Doune the Rabbit Hole music festival are asking for donations totalling £60,000 to pay outstanding debts to staff and artists from last summer’s event.
It follows a recent announcement that the company which ran the 2022 event (Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival Ltd) had been put into liquidation as well as “a change of management”.
DTRH had said they would try to repay outstanding debts from the 2022 festival as soon as possible.
Scottish indie rock band Honeyblood had tweeted on Monday this week: “It’s been a really rough time for the music industry. But sadly @dounetherabbit still haven’t paid me, my band or my crew for our work.”
The 2023 event is scheduled to take place between July 21-23 under the management of Festival Beverage and Property Services Ltd who operated the festival in 2018 and 2019.
A DTRH ‘Please Help Our Artists and Crew’ Tweet posted on Wednesday evening, which has since been taken down, stated: “We are making a plan to repay everyone what they’re owed, but we have exhausted all personal funds and other options to raise money to make immediate and necessary payments to the people who need it most; especially at this time of year.
“We appreciate that many of you have already paid for your festival experience, but some of you may have come as a guest or on a discounted ticket which you may feel you could top up.
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“Please consider donating regardless. We do not aim to raise the total amount owed in this fundraiser, but if everyone who attended donated the cost of a night out at a gig, everyone would receive full payment in the New Year.
“Again, please consider donating, even a small amount will help our artists and crew. To be clear this is part of a broader plan we are making to pay everyone.”
As we went to press £231 of the £60,000 fundraising goal had been gathered.
July’s event at the Cardross Estate near Port of Menteith was fraught with last-minute difficulties, with Stirling councillors conditionally approving its licence just hours before revellers were due to start arriving.
The festival had been hanging in the balance after concerns were raised by emergency services and council officials that some requirements had not been met.
Thousands of revellers, saw acts including Patti Smith, Jabberwocky, Amy Macdonald, The Bluebells and Boney M.
However, permission was only officially granted at the 11th hour by the local authorities after police, fire and ambulance representatives said their criteria had finally been satisfied and visitor numbers had been reduced from 15,000 to 10,000.
DTRH boss Jamie Murray has transferred management of DTRH to his dad Craig Murray (of Festival Beverage and Property Services Ltd).
Jamie Murray told this week’s Sunday Mail: “What we’ve been trying to do over several months is find the money to pay people with. I’m quite hurt by this insinuation I’ve taken lots of money out of the business as that’s completely the opposite.
“I’ve invested everything I have in this business and it has failed. I am just as desperate to get my investment back as I am to pay everybody.”
He added that the company had been put into voluntary liquidation to let him have “control” over the process.
Murray said: “The easiest thing to do would be to walk away. But I’m committed to getting everybody paid and the only way I can do that is with the business intact.”
