Set to take place in London this weekend, the Jabberwocky Festival was cancelled less than 3 days before it was set to kick off and legal action has been taken. Yesterday, All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP) had action taken against them. They are being brought to court by publicity company Zeitgeist Agency and ticketing agency Dash Tickets UK.

The Zeitgeist statement reads,

Willwal Ltd have failed to pay us for several months. We have tried hard to overcome this situation and find solutions, but Willwal’s representatives have revealed to us in writing that they used the funds destined for us in order to protect payments for venue and artists, rather than settle essential and agreed amounts to our company. It would appear that Willwal Ltd has been experiencing and is continuing to experience cash flow difficulties. We had a great campaign and as a trusted and respected contact we wanted you know to know that this situation has nothing to do with any wrongdoing by The Zeitgeist Agency Limited.

This situation has left our company with no alternative but to pursue Willwal Ltd by instituting legal proceedings on the 20th July to recover the substantial debt, to which Willwal Ltd have not responded. This is a course of action which as you can imagine, we have been very reluctant to take.

The Dash Tickets UK statement reads,

Our trust in ATP seems to have been misplaced, as their emails to fans and customers today concerning refunds have become deliberately misleading. It is for this reason that we feel compelled to make it clear that Dash has given to ATP all funds that Dash received for ticket sales to Jabberwocky. In addition to giving ATP all the ticketing funds, Dash has made substantial advances to ATP which remain unpaid, as do considerable fees for the work we have undertaken on their behalf. 

It is important that everyone knows that Dash Tickets is in no way responsible for ATPs financial problems, nor with their conduct post cancellation. We are very keen to learn where the money has gone!

We thought more of ATP and its Directors. We hope that they will do the right thing and expedite refunds to all fans.

Dash will now take legal advice with the aim of commencing legal proceedings against ATP (Willwal Limited), to attempt to recover all funds.

ATP responded with,

For the vast majority of people, Dash Tickets will be their point of purchase. It is their responsibility to refund the customer, as they were the company that took payments; not ATP. And if Dash are not being helpful facilitating this matter, your next point of contact should be directly with your bank or card provider to order a chargeback of your purchase amount.

The festival was cancelled due to low ticket sales, according to ATP, but conflicting information has led many to question the legitimacy of their claims.