An electronic music promoter has apologised to ticket holders for "any confusion" after sales remained open for days even though the event was scrapped.
The principal of promotions company FOMO Events Australia called off the three-day psytrance music event, Frequency Forest, scheduled to be held at Maitland Showground this weekend, citing "weeks of ongoing threats across social media" over the inclusion of five Israeli DJs in the line-up.
The promoter, who requested not to be identified because of concerns for his safety, said the festival's Maitland iteration was cancelled after two of his luxury cars were firebombed outside his home in Melbourne last month.
"Frequency Forest made the difficult decision to move the Maitland event due to serious and escalating safety concerns surrounding the festival," he said in a statement on Wednesday, September 23.
Despite scrapping plans on Friday and promising ticket holders would be notified directly, the event's website remained active this week and continued to advertise the festival as going ahead at Maitland Showground from Friday, September 25.
A billing portal, in which several ticket options appeared to be available for sale, was removed on Wednesday afternoon only after the promoter was contacted by the Newcastle Herald.
The website, the promoter's social media, and a Facebook page dedicated to the festival did not include any further indication that the event was not going ahead as planned.
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"We acknowledge there has been a delay in updating some event information and communicating directly with ticket holders while alternative arrangements were being worked through," the promoter said in response to questions.
"We apologise for any confusion this has caused. This was not a situation we had planned for and it is taking time to manage the various elements."
The promoter has insisted the event was not cancelled outright, but will instead be restructured to stage a revised line-up in a series of Sydney nightclubs at a later date.
They did not respond to requests for details of the revised plans, but said: "We are currently finalising a restructure of the event, including revised Sydney venues, dates, and artist line-ups."
"Ticket holders have been contacted directly yesterday with full details, including their ticket and refund options, we have received several refund requests and are working through the process," the promoter said.
"Our priority throughout this situation has been the safety of our patrons, artists, staff and venues, while doing everything possible to provide an alternative for those who purchased tickets."
Maitland Showground general manager Andrew Jenkins said there were safety concerns surrounding the festival's development application, which had been lodged with Maitland City Council last month.
He said he, the promoter, the council and local police were working through the concerns before the DA was withdrawn.
Last week, the promoter said they had been the subject of sustained social media backlash over the inclusion of five Israeli psytrance DJs among about 60 international artists and producers.
They said the "escalating threats" culminated when two of their cars were burnt overnight on August 16.
Victoria Police confirmed that investigators were continuing their inquiries, and that the fires were being treated as suspicious.
On Wednesday, September 16, after receiving a handful of objections to the event's line-up, management at the Maitland Showground received an email allegedly threatening violence and damage to the venue if the event went ahead.
The email reportedly referenced the controversy and included the words: "Do you have enough fire precautions?".
Police were notified, Mr Jenkins said.
NSW Police said they were aware of the email and their inquiries were continuing.
A social media account which has railed against the festival over staging Israeli music artists appeared to single out the Hunter venue last week.
"Maitland Showground is hosting [Israeli] psytrance DJs," the post read. "They do not have the privilege of undertaking 'business as usual'."
Frequency Forest's Hunter debut at the former home of the region's biggest music festival - Groovin' The Moo - was billed as "an entire weekend immersed in incredible music, creativity and community".
It had promised two stages, dozens of high-profile international artists, as well as attractions and other stallholders, with tickets ranging from about $160 to more than $400 for a capacity crowd of about 5000.
It was understood fewer than 300 tickets were still available for sale before the festival was called off.
In their statement, the promoter said the Maitland festival had been cancelled with plans to relocate performances, adding the decision was made "solely on safety grounds and is not a political statement or an endorsement of calls to boycott the artists".
It was understood that the five artists reportedly at the centre of the furore had been removed from the line-up.
Maitland City Council and NSW Police have been approached for comment.
