Mohalenyane Phakela
THE fifth edition of the Maseru Beach Party was cancelled at the last minute on Saturday, leaving revelers fuming at the venue on the shores of Maqalika Dam.
Since its inception in 2011, the festival has been held on the first Saturday of December and meant to afford revelers the experience of a beach despite Lesotho being hundreds of kilometres from the coast.
However, the organisers of the Maseru Beach Party did not show up even though the tickets for the event had been sold ahead of time.
Contacted for comment, one of the organisers, Sir Schaba, would not be drawn to explain the reasons for the cancellation, saying it was because of “circumstances beyond our control”.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Maseru Beach Party 2015 could not go on. We are still working on a mechanism to reimburse those who bought tickets,” he said.
“The process of reimbursing revelers is a bit tricky because the tickets were sold through Computicket, so we are talking to them to find a solution to this mess.
However, Sir Schaba said “it won’t be possible” for them to refund ticketholders in full since Computicket was not liable for the cancellation and will still take what is due to them.
“We urge ticketholders to hold on to them until we have all the information about the way forward. We will inform them soon about the outcome of our discussions. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience,” he said.
One of the artists billed to perform at the event told the Weekender, on condition of anonymity, said he was told that the company hired to provide the sound system disappeared at the last minute.
