It’s been a year since Blue Ridge Rock Fest was canceled and festival goers are still stuck asking the same question: where’s my money?
“We’ve kinda lost faith in the whole situation,” attendee Mark Gilbert said.
Gilbert had tickets for Saturday at the festival - only for it to be canceled before he ever got out of his car.
“Ballpark, do you have any idea how much money you spent?” 10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman said.
“It was close to $600. That was for one day for four people,” Gilbert said.
Regina Hazelrigg had been going to the festival for years. She was there the whole weekend when it got shut down.
“It was almost a state of shock too. We were all like, what just happened?” Hazelrigg said.
Festival organizers originally said they expected their insurance claims to be worked out, and refunds handled by first quarter of 2024.
Some people were able to get full or partial refunds from their banks, but as of now, nothing has come from the festival itself.
“Are you surprised nobody’s gotten their money back?” Coleman asked.
“Nope. Not surprised at all. For those that were able to call their credit card and make whatever arrangements they needed to with them paperwork-wise and get their money back - all the power to them. I’m glad they were able to do that,” Hazelrigg said.
But that wasn’t an option for Gilbert.
“We bought the tickets in April, and then it was in September, so by then, it was way past the time because I think we had four months. So, we couldn’t even get money back from the bank,”
For a year, we have worked to get in touch with the festival and Johnathan Slye, the festival promoter to get answers.
In our latest email - we asked for someone to speak with us about where refunds stand - and we never got a response.
Hazelrigg tells us she wants that money back.
“If there ever is a class action, I will be participating.”
While Gilbert says he’s learned his lesson.
“I’m not going to fall for it again. I’m not going to go back. Anything that we book now we have reservations about doing it. It’s kind of hard. Everything we think about, is it going to happen, especially any festivals or anything. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth,” he said.
You can find all of our previous Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage here.
