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ATP says payment to Pontins will confirm events going ahead
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 3 March 2016
Definitely not cancelled are the upcoming ATP festivals, despite everyone rampantly speculating about their cancellation, just because the holiday park hosting the events insisted they were cancelled. And then, you know, the bloody internet.
As previously reported, speculation about whether or not the latest two ATP events would go ahead began when people noticed that Pontins was taking normal bookings for its Prestatyn holiday park on the weekends the music festivals are due to take place. The holiday park firm then said ATP had cancelled its festivals, before clarifying that the events were on hold because the promoter hadn’t made a payment that was due.
Yesterday Team ATP announced that that payment would be made today, and then everything should be fine, and people can shut up about cancellations. The bloody internet.
Said ATP on Facebook: “The rumour which circulated online regarding our April festivals stems from a delayed payment from ATP to Pontins. This is something which we take full responsibility for, and are now resolving. The payment will be sent through to them tomorrow, which Pontins will confirm when they receive. We apologise wholeheartedly for the concern and worry this has caused our customers, artists and curators”.
Of course, a big chunk of that concern and worry stems from ATP having cancelled past events at short notice. And, of course, the bloody internet. “ATP customers were given incorrect information by Pontins staff, which was shared online at a rate which we were unprepared for”, the Facebook post went on. “The festival was never cancelled, which Pontins have now confirmed. Our delay in responding publicly regarding this is due to our wish to be as clear as possible as we are still in the process of negotiating some smaller organisational details, which we did not expect to be sharing with you at this point. These will be resolved in the next few days, of which we will keep you updated”.
And let’s not forget the role the bloody internet played in all this. “Unfortunately with the speed at which the internet moves these days, inevitable problems that can always arise in the course of delivering an event can be magnified and speculated about before they get a chance to be worked through calmly behind the scenes. While discussion between parties involved can take weeks to be resolved, the internet demands minute by minute updates on everything and in turn that can end up causing more confusion by people answering based on a sense of urgency and not completion. This is something we want to avoid”.
Yeah, bloody internet. Still, press the button on that online BACS payment, get confirmation by email, update your ticket-holders via Facebook, and the problem’s solved for everyone. Yay the internet!
