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Anatomy Of A Festival Cancellation: MetalDays Slovenia Proclaims The End
MetalDays Festival Slovenia, which grew into a household name among heavy metal fans over the last ten years, announced that it wouldn’t return for another edition.
The organizers’ passion for the event could be felt from its inception in 2013. MetalDays was one of the early festivals to market itself as blending holidays with music, placing as much emphasis on the off-stage entertainment as it did on-stage. It also had sustainability at the heart of all considerations from the beginning. Since then, the biggest names in metal have graced the stage in Tolmin, Slovenia, where MetalDays had its home until 2022: Megadeth, Slayer, Amon Amarth, Volbeat, In Flames, Sabaton, are just the tip of the iceberg.
From obvious setbacks caused by two years of lockdowns; a flooding in 2023, causing the cancellation of two festival days in the first year the festival had moved from Tolmin to a new location, Lake Velenje; the inflationary economy post-COVID; and what the organizers lay out to be cut-throat business practices by what they believed to be partners; as well as their own shortcomings, and some naiveté when making certain business decision – the reasons that have led to the end of MetalDays are manifold.
They usually are, but what’s unique to this case is how openly the organizers around founder Boban Boban Milunovic have laid it all out on the table, for everybody to read, and judge, for themselves. These are just excerpts from what constitutes a five-page letter published on the MetalDays website.
The first bad decision seems to have been not to save up in the early years, when the event first started to turn a profit. Instead, the team reinvested in its other events. They first considered throwing in the towel at the end of 2021, but instead took a private loan “to survive as a company and to slowly return requested refunds.”
By 2022, production costs had risen across the board, according to MetalDays’ promoters in some cases by 300%. The festival was sold out, but mostly on tickets bought for a price calculated before March 2020.
“Without a ticket price increase and with all the unexpected price rises, we kept pushing back the refunds, creating a bad vibe going into an already sensitive festival edition [2022]”, the letter states.
The original plan to move to a new location in 2022 couldn’t be realized in the COVID aftermath, and the letter details why.
It also names a gastronomy partner that screwed the organizers over, if it all indeed occurred as laid out on by the MetalDays team, who emphasize, that they’re giving their “honest take on these matters. Trust us, this is the truth.”
The gastronomy partner allegedly withheld funds from both the festival as well as visitors using the cashless payment system, also provided by the gastronomy partner – the company has since been taken to court, with two decision having already been made in MetalDays favor, according to the letter.
This is followed by the story of another business partner sensing MetalDay’s weakness and using it to promote their own, brand-new event in Tolmin, even going as far as creating bad publicity for MetalDays in a local newspaper.
Despite all of the setbacks, the 2023 edition, the first at the new lakeside location offering a greater capacity, could have saved the day had it not been for the flooding, which ended the festival prematurely.
All of the above caused ticket refunds not to be paid out, and artists not to be paid, causing some fans and artists to call out MetalDays’ promoters as scammers. In response to that, organizers write:
“Besides the loan we took in 2021, in 2023, we sold a portion of shares in the MetalDays promoting company. This money was invested in MetalDays 2023. One shareholder also took an additional loan, which was likewise invested in MetalDays 2023. In total, well over half a million [Euros] of private funds were invested by shareholders in MetalDays from 2021 until 2023, covering both production costs of 2023 and processed refunds. If any of the defamation aimed at discrediting us had been true, we would never have invested this money in MetalDays 2023, nor would we have refunded a single ticket. Every allegation that we are scammers who misappropriated visitors’ money for high-end tourism on a paradise island is false, and only a fool would believe it just because a wannabe Metal influencer said it on the internet. MetalDays has been our life from day one. Anyone who thinks we would destroy the product of our hard work and dedication for the reasons stated in those false accusations is simply naive. The outstanding refunds amount to only about 30% of what shareholders personally invested in MetalDays 2023. How foolish would that be? There’s absolutely no logic behind it. We don’t claim to be geniuses, but we aren’t that stupid either.”
In the end, to save the festival, it was offered up for sale to all major promoters, which was the only way to fulfil unpaid obligations that accumulated in the years 2020-2023. Because a deal couldn’t be reached, “it is just not economically feasible to continue.”
The five-page letter ends as it begins – with a statement of thanks to fans, artists, and their teams. “To all the bands that played at MetalDays: you are as crucial to MetalDays as our visitors. Over the years, we have established ourselves as reliable promoters, enabling us to host so many incredible bands. Each of you contributes uniquely to MetalDays, enhancing the festival’s significance. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to meet such talented personalities and to host you for a day. To the bands we were unable to pay due to the financial loss caused by flooding, we can only say that we deeply regret this situation, and we wish it had not come to this. Given that many of you have performed at MetalDays before, we trust you understand that this was never intentional. We have consistently been a dependable partner, honoring every contractual obligation and prioritizing the interests of every band that graced our stages. We truly hope to regain your trust and to become a reliable partner you can again count on in the future. To New Forces Promoters and Bands, we wish to thank you for your unwavering support of MetalDays until the very last day. Your dedication and enthusiasm have been invaluable to us. Many of you have become not just partners, but true friends. We look forward to hosting your bands at future events and continuing our collaboration for many years to come.”