Organisers of the Area9 rock festival at Ohau at Waitangi weekend cannot pay their bills, owing about $320,000 to people who provided services for the 48-hour event.
The festival, from noon on February 6 to noon on February 8 on a site leased from Ohau Downs Station, was organised by Christchurch-based Mission Controlled Events Management Limited, run by Rosie Moore and Fiona Page.
They told media there were about 4600 people at the festival - based on a ticket price of $200 a person, income from sales should have been up to to $960,000, depending on how many free or sponsors' tickets were issued.
In addition, there were sponsors for the event.
However, accountants Keith Yardley and Associates, handling the insolvency, said yesterday: "Due to a significant mis-reporting as to the number of ticket sales prior to the Area9 event, the proceeds . . . have been insufficient to pay all creditors what they are owed."
An internal investigation by Mission Controlled directors and the accountants was under way to find out why there was a significant difference between the reported and actual ticket sales.
A letter to creditors said Mission Controlled had $107,000 cash in the bank, owed unsecured creditors $320,000 and loans from "shareholders and associates" of $140,000.
The organisation of the event was praised at the time by some of those involved, but that turned to dismay when they received the letter this week from Christchurch accountants Keith Yardley and Associates saying it was "not successful" and Mission Controlled "is now insolvent".
Creditors may only get 33c in the dollar of what they were owed.
One of those out of pocket was the Waitaki District Council's Waitaki rural fire party.
It provided fire protection, along with units and eight fire fighters for the event.
Emergency services manager Eric Spittal said it was owed about $5000, which it would have to meet from its own budget.
Oamaru's Awamoa Bins cleared grey water from tanks at the festival and owner Anthony Tonkin was owed about $2000.
He was angry that something like that would happen.
Dunedin company H. A. Foote Haulage provided potable water from a tanker on site during the festival. It was owed about $4000.
What had happened would make it difficult for organisers of other similar events, Foote's company director, Mike Rogan, said.
"A lot of contractors will now demand money up front."
In the letter to creditors, the accountant's director Keith Yardley said Mission Controlled directors were in the process of obtaining and finalising details of all amounts owing so the final position could be established.
A proposal would be put to creditors within the next 10 days to pay a proportion of what they were owed.
The $140,000 in loans from directors and associates would not form part of the repayment programme.
Mr Yardley said directors believed that would be a more favourable outcome for creditors than the prospect of liquidation and its associated costs which would reduce the payout.
"The directors are extremely distressed that this position has arisen and have and are continuing to review the circumstances that have given rise to this unhappy outcome," he said.
Attempts by the Otago Daily Times to contact Mission Controlled yesterday were unsuccessful.
Its phone was disconnected and there were no replies to messages left on a cellphone.
