The Dunedin Fringe Festival shows from South Africa have been cancelled due to immigration issues.
Festival director Josh Thomas said every performances of the acapella vocal group Africa Entsha and the song and dance show Stimela: The Gumboot Musical have been cancelled.
``Regrettably they were unable to fulfil all of their immigration paperwork requirements in time.''
The first performance was scheduled at St Paul's Cathedral at 7pm tonight.
An Oamaru Opera House spokesman said the show Stimela: The Gumboot Musical scheduled in Oamaru on Monday had also been cancelled.
Mr Thomas said artists involved in Fringe events were responsible for every aspect of their production, including travel and immigration requirements, he said.
All ticket holders will be contacted by the festival office or it's official ticket provider Eventfinda, and their ticket purchases would be refunded in full.
Tickets purchased through the Eventfinda website would be refunded automatically in up to three working days.
The people who bought tickets in person from the Dunedin Fringe Festival box office were asked to visit the office to process the refund.
