Punters have been left outraged and disappointed following the inaugural Soulfest over the weekend, after a headlining act was cancelled during the festival’s Sydney leg and an entire stage was cancelled during the Melbourne event.

Mos Def, real name Yasiin Bey, was a no-show during the Sydney leg of the inaugural Soulfest event at Victoria Park. Taking to social media, fans expressed disappointment at Bey’s absence during the festival — which many attended specifically to see the rapper’s performance — as well as festival organisers’ handling of the situation.

Bey took to his official Facebook page at 1:15pm on Saturday, 18th October, less than three hours before he was expected to take the stage at the event, billed as “Australia’s first annual neo-soul, jazz and hip-hop festival”, to apologise to Sydney fans.

“Peace Sydney. Sorry Im going to miss you today,” the rapper wrote, citing “travel issues” as the cause of his cancellation. However, according to a statement later released by Soulfest, the rapper “missed his flight”.

The rapper assured Melbourne fans that he would be appearing at Yarra Park on Sunday and added, “Sydney fans, you can catch me at The Enmore Theatre on Monday night.” However, Bey’s apology did little to quash the disappointment and frustration of fans like Nilu Sha, who commented, “I’m not just disappointed, but I’m crushed… I just feel really bittersweet about Mos and his music.”

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Meanwhile, Facebook user Sugz Triple wrote, “That was a big time bitch move. Why the fuck don’t [you] give us free entry for the sideshow with the festival ticket… ‘Traveling man’ don’t miss flights,” referring to Bey’s 1999 collaboration with DJ Honda, Travellin’ Man.

Still others, like Sofiya Sana Hashmi, commented, “When you drop a large amount of money initially so that you can primarily see Mos Def side stage, you don’t have the money to go see his sideshow.”

According Music Feeds, many punters attending Soulfest were not aware of the rapper’s absence until shortly before his set was scheduled to commence. An announcement was reportedly made at 4:10pm, the originally scheduled performance time, when Sydney rapper Miracle took the stage after being carried over from the Spotify Stage, where he was scheduled to perform 20 minutes earlier.

After many fans who already paid $140 for their Soulfest ticket complained of having to pay another $78 for a ticket to the rapper’s Enmore Theatre sideshow, festival organisers responded by offering discounted tickets for Sydney Soulfest ticket-holders.

Punters who purchased a ticket for the festival’s Sydney leg will be able to present their Soulfest hard ticket, print-out, or proof of purchase at the Enmore box office tonight and receive a discounted $39 entry to the show, working out to a roughly $40 saving on the original ticket price.

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However, this too has been met with mixed reactions from fans, with many complaining of still having to fork out more dough after already purchasing their Soulfest ticket. Organisers have responded to fans’ criticisms, writing, “For $39 you are getting a full show, not just a festival set.”

Other criticisms lobbed at organisers include the limited amount of tickets left to the rapper’s Enmore show, making it impossible for all affected Soulfest punters to be accommodated. In response, organisers have suggested punters arrive at the venue “early” to improve their chances of getting a discounted ticket.

It’s not the first time that Bey has experienced trouble with honouring commitments in Australia. A scheduled tour in 2011 turned into a debacle and left a promoter in tears after the rapper failed to appear at four dates of his Australian itinerary.

According to Peace Music Managing Director Sam Speaight, “[The] cancellations meant an immediate net loss of around $250,000.” As Speaight told The Vine, “We absolutely had bulletproof, watertight contracts in place with the artist. They were breached… I lost track of the number of contract breaches in the end, to be honest.”

Meanwhile, organisers blamed “a combination of operational and logistical issues” on the cancellation of the local stage in Melbourne, which was slated to host such acts as Nathaniel, and Ngaiire. The cancellation of the stage meant none of the scheduled artists appeared.

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Soul singer Ngaiire issued an apology to fans via Facebook, writing, “We got to Melbourne and then literally had to turn right around due to the festival’s own issues. We had a surprise in the form of [Hiatus Kaiyote singer] Nai Palm getting up and everything!”

Like Mos Def, the problems plaguing Soulfest, which, according to several commenters, also included sound issues throughout the Sydney date, seem to be history repeating for promoter John Denison.

Denison was, along with Dwayne Cross, behind the infamous Supafest hip-hop event, which collapsed in 2013 following multiple financial and logistical issues and was thrown onto the unfortunate scrap heap of failed hip-hop events that year.

At least three companies associated with Supafest and the directors/promoters were reportedly placed into administration, with debts to creditors totalling $17 million.

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