You may have heard of the "Toronto concert curse" theory going around on TikTok. If anything is going to make you a believer, it's the events of this past weekend; somehow Lil Wayne's border-crossing issues for the Young Money reunion were the least of the issues between Kultureland Festival relocating at the last minute, Boots and Hearts needing to evacuate, Ever After getting cancelled and more.
While Kultureland headliner Burna Boy went on as scheduled at the Markham Fairgrounds on Saturday (August 6), ticketholders were furious after the fest abruptly changed its Sunday (August 7) location to the Ajax Downs Racetrack — right as doors were about to open at 4 p.m. ET (postponed from the original start time of noon).
UPDATE (8/9/22, 9:31 a.m. ET): Kultureland has issued a statement addressing the last-minute venue change and taking "full accountability" for the issues that transpired. They have promised refunds for all second-day ticketholders.
"We paid for a full day, but now it's just 6 to 11," festivalgoer Sarina Perera told CBC News of the venue change that necessitated further travel for attendees. "It's very unorganized."
Worse yet, Jhené Aiko — who was slated to close out the festivities with her headlining set — was among the artists who cancelled their appearances when the event was moved to Ajax. "Her show required a level of visuals that we could not have technically produced in a short period of time," the festival explained in a statement [via iHeartRadio].
Kultureland shared that StoneBwoy, Firebox, Lojay and Kamo Mphela would no longer be on the lineup in a tweet sent out shortly after 5 p.m. ET the day of the event.
Naturally, attendees took to social media to express their outrage at the organization of the event, which Code R.E.D Entertainment's Ferell Laditi responded to by telling iHeartRadio that an official announcement addressing the issues will be made later today. "That's all I can say at this time," he added.
While Kultureland headliner Burna Boy went on as scheduled at the Markham Fairgrounds on Saturday (August 6), ticketholders were furious after the fest abruptly changed its Sunday (August 7) location to the Ajax Downs Racetrack — right as doors were about to open at 4 p.m. ET (postponed from the original start time of noon).
UPDATE (8/9/22, 9:31 a.m. ET): Kultureland has issued a statement addressing the last-minute venue change and taking "full accountability" for the issues that transpired. They have promised refunds for all second-day ticketholders.
"We paid for a full day, but now it's just 6 to 11," festivalgoer Sarina Perera told CBC News of the venue change that necessitated further travel for attendees. "It's very unorganized."
Worse yet, Jhené Aiko — who was slated to close out the festivities with her headlining set — was among the artists who cancelled their appearances when the event was moved to Ajax. "Her show required a level of visuals that we could not have technically produced in a short period of time," the festival explained in a statement [via iHeartRadio].
Kultureland shared that StoneBwoy, Firebox, Lojay and Kamo Mphela would no longer be on the lineup in a tweet sent out shortly after 5 p.m. ET the day of the event.
Naturally, attendees took to social media to express their outrage at the organization of the event, which Code R.E.D Entertainment's Ferell Laditi responded to by telling iHeartRadio that an official announcement addressing the issues will be made later today. "That's all I can say at this time," he added.
Elsewhere, Boots and Hearts — Oro-Medonte's annual country camping festival — faced an evacuation yesterday (August 7) ahead of the event-closing performance from Shania Twain. At 8:45 p.m. ET, organizers temporarily evacuated the Burl's Creek festival grounds due to "severe incoming weather conditions" [via BarrieToday].
Apparently, it's not just Pearson Airport hosting world-class chaos.