A last-minute deal has saved Beyond the Pale music and arts festival, organisers announced this evening.
A “very highly-regarded operator” sympathized with the plight of festival organisers after a sudden loss of expected finance and offered to help yesterday.
On Saturday morning, stakeholders had been told the festival had to be cancelled due to a last minute finance issue and crews had begun to disassemble the site.
But festival organisers announced on Saturday evening that despite a “stumble” Beyond The Pale had been saved and would “absolutely” go ahead next weekend, to the relief of thousands of anxious artists, ticket holders and suppliers.
On Sunday evening, festival organisers issued another statement, thanking everyone for “bearing with us over the past two days.”
“We want to share more about what happened and to reassure everybody that the festival is secure and we are full throttle for next weekend and beyond,” the statement said.
“A festival needs significant cashflow over the festival month. It’s a huge challenge for all festivals in their first few years, and this week, an essential piece of expected finance that would have helped us through the period fell through.
“Whilst we had not made any announcement we were cancelling, we did have to pause the work that was happening on site.
“We spent the day figuring it out together, and then put out a short public statement the moment we could.”
To reassure ticket holders, artists, vendors and everyone else involved, the festival is going ahead as planned, with the same infrastructure, line-up, safety and experience that everybody expects, the statement said.
“The next few days are going to be very busy, but we will be ready to open the campsites at 12noon and the arena at 4.30pm on Friday.
“It was incredible to see so much support for the event over the day, and it was this passion – from all of you on social media, on site and beyond – that put the wheels in motion for us to get the show golden for next weekend.
“So – we all did this together. Thank you all. Your support means everything to our team. Let’s have the party of a lifetime,.”
Crews were back on site at Beyond The Pale music and arts festival on Sunday, rebuilding infrastructure removed the previous day.
“Everyone was back on site building again after the 11th hour reprieve,” one person working at the festival said.
“People I’ve spoken to here are a bit perplexed, but relieved.
“It was a crazy situation [yesterday] but it’s 100% going ahead now,” they said.
The popular music festival, which is scheduled to run from Friday to Sunday, June 13-15, is expected to draw thousands to Co. Wicklow over the weekend.
People have been working at the site for weeks, setting up stages and organizing the scenic site in Glendalough Estate, Co Wicklow.
A fun fair, large marquees, tents, and security fencing have been erected.
The festival line-up for this year includes Jon Hopkins, Roisin Murphy, TV on the Radio, Boney M and Jeff Mills.
Techno DJ Dave Clarke, who is on the Beyond The Pale line up on Saturday night, posted on social media saying that he would be coming to Ireland regardless of any confusion over the festival being cancelled and he would also play a free gig on Sunday in Pawn Shop, Dublin.
“Hopefully all is well for BTP festival and it goes ahead. We need independent events in a world full of mass consumption,” he wrote.
Beyond the Pale won Best Small Festival at last year’s Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) awards. It first launched in 2022 with under 5,000 attendees.
It doubled to 10,000 by 2024 with 15 stages and had 12,000 planned this year.
Tickets are available on the event’s website – €268.95 for a three-day campaign pass and €126.90 for a one-day ticket.
