Artists, attendees say they're still waiting for compensation months after Regina's Sweet Escape music fest
CBC
Harmony Bishchler says Regina's inaugural Sweet Escape music festival, which she attended over the Labour Day weekend, had her asking, "Is this Fyre Festival again?"
Bischler was comparing the Regina event to 2017's Fyre Festival, which promised a luxury music experience on an island in the Bahamas, but led to its organizer being jailed for fraud after its spectacular failure.
Months after the Regina festival, many people are still saying they didn't get what they were promised and are owed money.
Internationally-renowned artist Polo G's team says the artist is still owed $60,000.
The Hospitals of Regina Foundation says it has received none of the money from ticket sales that organizers promised.
Bishchler says she hasn't been refunded or reimbursed for liquor tickets she bought at the event but couldn't use. Some attendees also voiced concerns on social media about safety issues, refunds and paying for privileges they never got.
The festival's organizers did not respond to interview requests for this story.
The lineup for Sweet Escape featured more than just Polo G when it came to international artists, like Fat Joe who was also making their Regina debuts.
But videos accessed by the CBC show two artists — Polo G and SonReal — alleging on stage that they weren't paid by the organizers. Despite that, both the performers chose to do shortened sets for the crowd.
Two of the organizers, Simon Tekeste and Jeremy Lauagan, spoke to CBC about the concerns two days after the event. They said one performer — Jazz Cartier — wasn't present because his payment didn't go through.
Days after the event, the organizers had said they paid all the artists in full.
Tone, a manager and DJ for Polo G, said earlier this month that isn't the case.
"We still haven't got our full payment at all. It's been excuse after excuse," he said in an interview on Nov. 4.
"We came and did the show because Polo loved the fans. He didn't do it because of the promoter. He did it just because there was fans out there."
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