Following the unplanned cancellation of the Good Vibes Festival (GVF) in Malaysia, the festival’s organisers have sincerely pleaded on social media to ticket holders, asking them to consider forgoing their refunds to support the struggling local music festival. Due to a contentious on-stage altercation involving The 1975’s lead vocalist, Matty Healy, the festival—which was supposed to be a three-day celebration of local and international music—was cancelled after just one day.
Healy publicly denounced Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws and shared an on-stage kiss with his male bandmate during the band’s performance, which led to the cancellation. Due to this unanticipated turn of events, the festival abruptly ended on July 21.
The GVF’s organisers, Future Sound Asia, posted a statement on their official Instagram page on August 16 describing the choices accessible to ticketholders impacted by the cancellation. These choices included giving up all refunds or exchanging them for tickets to the 2024 or 2025 festival editions with the incentive of RM100 in drink coupons. Additionally, customers have the option of receiving full or partial refunds.
“As you choose your refund option, please bear in mind that we want to be able to continue putting on this Malaysian festival that we love and are proud of and that we hope brings joy to you as well; we want GVF to survive,” the festival’s organisers pleaded in a letter to attendees. It would be a great help to #SaveGVF if you could spare or postpone any portion of your reimbursement.
The festival’s organisers also provided information about the different people and organisations that helped to make it happen, such as the food vendors, the on-site workers, the security companies, and the stage crew. They stressed that these stakeholders, who have suffered because of the festival’s cancellation, will immediately benefit from the donations made by ticket holders.
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The event’s organisers acknowledged the flaws in the refund process in an Instagram post and expressed sympathy for the difficulties that ticketholders were having. “We are profoundly saddened by what occurred and recognise the necessity of presenting a refund mechanism to assist in reducing the costs that many of you have incurred,” they said. We appreciate your understanding that the system may not be ideal and that not everyone will be delighted, but we do our best to recompense ticket holders fairly.
Future Sound Asia has filed a lawsuit against The 1975 in response to the scandal, adding weight to their need for community support and highlighting how severe the matter is.
The decision of ticketholders regarding their refunds may be crucial in determining the survival of Malaysia’s top music festival as the Good Vibes Festival organisers continue their efforts to save the cherished music event.
