While the fallout surrounding cancelled Ontario music festival Roxodus continues to mount, some disappointed ticket holders tried to make the best out of a bad situation by hosting their very own "Roxobust" festival.
Roxodus — a four-day event that was to be held at the Edenvale Airport in Clearview Township, ON, and feature the likes of Aerosmith, Kid Rock and Nickelback — was to kick off on Thursday (July 11). And while organizers are currently fighting over the real reason for the cancellation, a Facebook group called Roxodus: The Festival That Never Happened But More Than 20,000 Wished It Did hosted their own festival of sorts.
Dubbed "Roxobust," the makeup event took place at the Hangar restaurant at the Edenvale Airport last night.
"I knew everybody was going to be bummed out Thursday night, sitting at home or at a hotel room or campsite they had booked and knowing the concert would have gotten underway, so I figured why not try to turn this around and put a positive spin on it," Melissa Haskett — a Wasaga Beach resident who dropped $555 on two tickets for the failed Roxodus fest — told BarrieToday.
"We might as well all get together at the Hangar, have some drinks and food and make the best of a bad situation. You also never know, we could be back here annually with a big Roxobust music festival."
And while only about 40 people attended the event last night — a number far less than the thousands expected for Roxodus — their enthusiasm and positive attitudes are commendable, to say the least.
"We've become friends over the past week or so on the Facebook group, and it is so awesome to meet everyone face to face," Haskett said. "The silver lining here is that most of the people I've spoken to has got their money back and has chosen to make light of it all."
Roxobust featured the local band BootLegged, who broke out some classic rock numbers for those in attendance.
"We feel really bad for everyone. We also had tickets, so we know how people feel," lead singer Deb Nordeen told BarrieToday. "We volunteered our services here tonight when we saw the posting on Facebook about a get-together and we felt it just really needed some rock 'n' roll in light of what has happened.
"We're here to make it grow and not try and give in to all the negativity that's easy to get into."
As recently reported, Roxodus has not only sparked a police investigation, but an ugly war of words between organizers, who are now warring over the lost of millions of dollars and the real reason for the festival's cancellation. Organizers have also been accused of destroying protected forests and wetlands while attempting to set up the failed event.
Roxodus — a four-day event that was to be held at the Edenvale Airport in Clearview Township, ON, and feature the likes of Aerosmith, Kid Rock and Nickelback — was to kick off on Thursday (July 11). And while organizers are currently fighting over the real reason for the cancellation, a Facebook group called Roxodus: The Festival That Never Happened But More Than 20,000 Wished It Did hosted their own festival of sorts.
Dubbed "Roxobust," the makeup event took place at the Hangar restaurant at the Edenvale Airport last night.
"I knew everybody was going to be bummed out Thursday night, sitting at home or at a hotel room or campsite they had booked and knowing the concert would have gotten underway, so I figured why not try to turn this around and put a positive spin on it," Melissa Haskett — a Wasaga Beach resident who dropped $555 on two tickets for the failed Roxodus fest — told BarrieToday.
"We might as well all get together at the Hangar, have some drinks and food and make the best of a bad situation. You also never know, we could be back here annually with a big Roxobust music festival."
And while only about 40 people attended the event last night — a number far less than the thousands expected for Roxodus — their enthusiasm and positive attitudes are commendable, to say the least.
"We've become friends over the past week or so on the Facebook group, and it is so awesome to meet everyone face to face," Haskett said. "The silver lining here is that most of the people I've spoken to has got their money back and has chosen to make light of it all."
Roxobust featured the local band BootLegged, who broke out some classic rock numbers for those in attendance.
"We feel really bad for everyone. We also had tickets, so we know how people feel," lead singer Deb Nordeen told BarrieToday. "We volunteered our services here tonight when we saw the posting on Facebook about a get-together and we felt it just really needed some rock 'n' roll in light of what has happened.
"We're here to make it grow and not try and give in to all the negativity that's easy to get into."
As recently reported, Roxodus has not only sparked a police investigation, but an ugly war of words between organizers, who are now warring over the lost of millions of dollars and the real reason for the festival's cancellation. Organizers have also been accused of destroying protected forests and wetlands while attempting to set up the failed event.
