The organisers of the Ballygar Carnival have said that they were disappointed with the late arrival and performance time of Wild Youth last weekend.
Fans were left extremely angry after Wild Youth showed up very late for their performance last Sunday at the festival.
The band were scheduled to start their performance at 12:30am, and play a 90 minute set. However, they didn’t take the stage until 1:18am, and finished up after less than an hour at 2:08am.
The organising committee for the festival said in a statement that they were disappointed that the stage time and set length agreed on in their contract were not adhered to.
“We the committee understand the frustration of those who attended on the night,” the statement said.
The organisers said that the band members were “courteous and polite” to the stewards and committee members on the night, and that they had no reason to believe at any point that the band members were too intoxicated to perform.
A settlement has been reached with the band and their management agency after negotiations regarding the night, with to be announced plans on how the funds will be put to use.
The full statement from the Ballygar Carnival Organising Committee reads:
“Wild Youth, who were scheduled to take to the stage at the Mattie McDonagh
Centre at 12:30am, arrived into Ballygar very late after an evening gig in Cork. Wild
Youth were booked to play a performance of a minimum of 90 minutes, however
they took to the stage at 1:18am and finished at 2:08am. The committee were very
disappointed that the stage time & set-length were not adhered to by the band as
per their pre-agreed contract. We the committee understand the frustration of
those who attended on the night.”
“The Ballygar Carnival committee would like to acknowledge the courteous and
polite behaviour of the band towards the committee and stewards when they
arrived into the building. We also accept that we, the committee, did not do
enough to ensure a secure and safe stage area during setup and performance.”
“Following on from countless media articles, we would also like to confirm that no
member of the committee had reason to believe that members of Wild Youth were
too intoxicated to perform, and for the duration that Wild Youth were on stage,
the committee were satisfied with their performance.”
“After professional negotiation with the band and their management agency, we
wish to confirm that we have reached a settlement regarding the matter. Wild
Youth have also offered to perform a free event in Ballygar as a gesture of goodwill
but unfortunately it was agreed that it is not logistically possible to make that
happen.”
“Ballygar Carnival would like to thank the community for their continued support of
the festival. We would also like to acknowledge and appreciate the amount of kind
messages the committee has received over the past few days. We are already
looking forward to the 80th annual Ballygar Carnival in 2024 and will announce at a
further date the plans to utilize the financial settlement that was reached.”
