One of the headliners has pulled out of Lake Cowichanѻýs Sunfest country music festival, and some ticketholders may be seeking refunds.
ѻýDue to circumstances beyond Billy Currington and Sunfest Countryѻýs control, Billy will not be performing at #SunfestCountry2022,ѻý said an announcement posted yesterday on the festivalѻýs website and social media channels. Currington was set to play Day 2 of the event, the same night as Darius Rucker and Dallas Smith.
Currington will be replaced with Canadian rock nѻý roll legend Randy Bachman, a move many on social media arenѻýt happy about.
ѻýI know stuff happens, but weѻýve paid money to come to a country [festival] why not replace with a country artist! Not the best call Sunfest!ѻý wrote Tiersa Rae on Sunfest Countryѻýs Facebook page in response to the announcement.
ѻýThis is like going for ice cream and finding out it melted and your getting a popsicle instead,ѻý wrote Ryan Dorman.
Others were a little more understanding:
ѻýWhen artists cancel at the last minute itѻýs tough to find replacements, not the festivals fault. Randy Bachman is a Canadian Legend, and will perform Canadian Classic songs, so thatѻýs a great opportunity to hear a legend live. Good job Sunfest!ѻý added Kevin Warren.
Many in the comments suggested bringing other artists from the Lake Night Stage but Sunfest says the artists playing that stage are there for a reason: ѻýThe artists playing the lake night stage want to play the closing party act. They are there to keep the party going.ѻý
Some are asking Sunfest for refunds to their tickets.
ѻýFor those that bought Friday night only tickets, we will work with them on refunds or moving their tickets to other dates,ѻý said Sunfest spokesperson Mike Hann. ѻýItѻýs a challenging world at the moment, with travel delays and border restrictions hampering plans for many international engagements. Unfortunately, due to the latter Billyѻýs Canadian dates have had to be cancelled.ѻý
Hann went on to say booking headline level artists last minute is also a big challenge, ѻýthatѻýs why we are extremely excited that it worked out to have a music legend such as Randy Bachman play our stage on Friday July 29. Over the years we have heard many of our Sunfest mainstage artists cover Randyѻýs songs so we know that people are going to be ecstatic to hear the real thing live at Sunfest. It will be a nostalgic reminder of the early days of Sunfest 20+ years ago.ѻý