Promoter Owes $200K

The promoter of the Chattahoochee River Country Music Festival near Atlanta paid only $50,000 of a $250,000 lease for the festival site, according to the property owner, which says it ended its contract with CelebScene.

“We weren’t paid the agreed amount,” Harrison Merrill, Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club chairman, told local weekly Douglas Neighbor. The lease cancellation caused CelebScene to find a new location in Carrolton, Ga., and make the fest free.

The original run date was to have been July 24-26. CelebScene’s Andy Turner told the paper that Foxhall Resort officials’ action to end the contract was the result of a miscommunication. He said his company was working under an amended contract, while the resort followed the original.

“We disagreed on the contract and the terms,” Turner said. “We had many meetings with them. We didn’t feel like [non-payment] was the case.” Merrill told the paper the contract was for rental of and to cover damages to the venue.

The promoter reportedly made two payments of $25,000 each, before failing to make payments in April and May.

The resort ended the contract the week before Memorial Day. In addition to the failed payments, Merrill reportedly said his company was concerned that country music star Alan Jackson, said to be a major investor, was not part of the show.