Doune The Rabbit Hole: Plug pulled on music festival for good after boycott call

Doune The Rabbit Hole, which had come under fire from artists and performers left out of pocket from last year’s festival, is said to have racked up more than £1 million in unpaid bills.

Some bands are believed to be owed tens of thousands of pounds in the wake of the festival’s demise.

Organisers said they were “beyond devastated” to pull the plug on the event, which has been staged at the Cardross Estate, near Stirling.

They also announced “the end of the festival for the foreseeable future” despite previously pledging to repay debts totalling more than £800,000 over several years by keeping the event running.

Ticketholders for next month’s event, which was due to feature Spiritualized, Alabama 3, Black Grape, the Asian Dub Foundation and the Thurston Moore Group, have been told by the festival to pursue a refund with their bank or credit card company.

Run by Craig and Jamie Murray, the festival has aso threatened to take legal action against the BECTU union, claiming it was left with no option but to pull the plug after it called for the festival to be “avoided.”. At the time, BECTU said it was “actively advising against working for, going to, or supporting Doune The Rabbit Hole.”

However a new statement from the festival said: “We’re beyond devastated to announce the cancellation of Doune The Rabbit Hole 2023 and the end of the festival for the foreseeable future as a result of the call for a boycott by BECTU.

“The team has tried everything in our power to recover from the challenges of 2022 and to produce the event our audience deserves, while making good on our promises to pay creditors from the 2022 event.

"Sadly, since the start of BECTU’s call for a boycott, the numbers are just not stacking up and we have no choice other than to cancel the event.

"We’ve looked at all options to keep the event on the table, as we know how much it means to all the people and families who have bought tickets, but we just aren’t able to produce the event in the current environment.”

The joint statement from BECTU, the Musicians’ Union and Equity, said: “We are of the view that it is unfortunate that the Doune the Rabbit Hole festival due to take place in July is now cancelled.

“However over the last few years this festival has amassed well over £1 million in unpaid bills to both bands and staff.

“Many people, including the headline bands last year, were paid nothing other than their deposits In some cases bands are owed tens of thousands of pounds with no hope of getting final payments. This year’s cancellation will impact yet more bands and staff.

“We’ve tried to have a constructive dialogue with the organisers of the festival, but the undertakings which were offered to us were not forthcoming.

"We would urge any members affected by the cancellation to make contact with their trade union and will provide all the support we can.”