Failed Playground Weekender promoter, Andy Rigby, has hit out at reports suggesting he closed his previous company last year owing $1.8 million in debts. Speaking with inthemix, Rigby said:
You can keep talking about this $1.8 million, but it’s a fucking crock of shit. It was our money, and virtually everyone in that arrangement – apart from a couple of people – were working on this year’s event. It’s just a restructure. It’s not relevant. It’s not relevant to this year’s event… We wound up our own debt. It was done to give us a solid financial footing going forward – it would be a real shame if you focused more on that than the fact that we’re a company that’s just been taken out by natural disaster. It was us who took the hit.
But it wasn’t just Playground Weekender who took the hit, it was also the numerous punters who purchased tickets or accommodation via the festival’s website. These people are now left trying to argue with their bank and no chance of seeing any money for weeks, if at all.
Rigby has tried to blame the “natural disaster” for all his problems, but when you run a festival next to a river that is prone to flooding and you don’t get insurance, then you only have yourself to blame.
When inthemix asked Rigby about the insurance situation and why they didn’t have it, Rigby replied:
You could call it poorly calculated: we had other forms of insurance, but the main focus is of course flooding. You make your own assessments from that. We looked at the dam levels, and everything was looking okay…
I’m not an expert on insurance, but it’s definitely harder after the Queensland floods. We discussed it three weeks out, looking at the area after rain, and the dams were fine… The problem with insurance like that is that it can take months to come through anyway.
There is no excuse for these actions by Playground Weekender. Not only did they stupidly risk their own money, but they also risked the money of 1000’s of ticket holders who gave them money in good faith.
According to hawkesburyhistory.org.au, the river flooded over 60 times between 1800 and 1992. That’s a flood nearly every 3 years, and the majority of these floods were considered moderate to major. You can view a full history of floods on the Hawkesbury river here.
Andy Rigby needs to face up to his mistakes and say sorry to the people he took money from. He needs to stop blaming a “natural disaster” and admit that he gambled people’s hard earned cash. The first thing you should do when you are planning on running a festival next to a river that floods every 3 years is get the right insurance.
