• Sweden edition

Hultsfred festival to file for bankruptcy

Published: 30 Jun 10 08:06 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/27514/20100630/

The iconic Swedish music festival Hultsfred has cancelled this year's 25th anniversary event and plans to file for bankruptcy after only 5,000 tickets were sold two weeks prior to opening.

"Up until the end of last week we thought we would break even," said Håkan Durmér at Hultsfred festival.

The majority of tickets for the festival are normally sold in the final two weeks before opening but when the expected increase in demand did not arrive in the beginning of the week the organisers decided to cancel this year's festival.

"It was a decision which had to be taken. A board which had not acted in this situation would have rendered themselves guilty of a crime."

Hultsfedsfestivalen AB, the firm which arranges the festival, will file for bankruptcy as soon as possible.

It remains uncertain whether those who have already bought tickets for the event will receive their money back. This situation will not become clear before a receiver is appointed to review the operations.

Last year's festival attracted 23,000 visitors but the fluctuating US$ exchange rate impacted finances when the artists were to be paid. This year the festival arrangers had reviewed the finances to ensure that break even would be reached at an earlier stage.

The longer term future of the festival now hangs in the balance.

"I dare not say anything at the moment," Durmér said.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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10:24 June 30, 2010 by nielsl
Sad news, really enjoyed the festival. It has a nice festival site and enough (small) bands to keep me interested.
11:26 June 30, 2010 by boby
What do you expect in Sweden? Most Swedes hate America, so they will not buy tickets for a festival with American artists. Try for next year to arrange a festival with artists from North Korea, Iran and China, preferabely ones that call for a Jihad against the west, and the success is garenteed!
11:51 June 30, 2010 by Åskar
@boby

If you know eff all about something, why don't you just STFU!
11:59 June 30, 2010 by zooeden
speaking of paranoia boby, you have no idea of what you are speaking so please shush!!!!

What a pity Hultsfred is cancelled,a history of music didnt break through cause of lack of management and high prices, and of course 100 other festivals in sweden!!!!
13:21 June 30, 2010 by Kevin Harris
Boby is right. Last year Bruce Sprinsteen played to empty stadiums all over Sweden. after the Göteborg show the Boss personally thanked the only two fans in the stadium, Sid and Doris Svensson for coming and bought them a hot dog each. Meanwhile across the city, the famous North Korean folk singer Kim Jung Dong played to full houses every night with thousands of disappointed Swedes unable to get tickets. One was so upset he set himself on fire.

Anti-American feeling in Sweden is now so prevalent in the music-loving community that most Swedes spontaneously vomit at the sight of an American rock and pop star. When Michael Jackson died last year, the city squares were packed with celebrating Swedes and a coven of Swedish witches sold potions they guaranteed would Kill Lenni Kravitz if you rubbed it on his chest. Nearly every Swede bought one, just in case they got the chance to use it. My elderly grandmother bought two.

Thank you Boby saying what everyone else was thinking. Can we have some more posts from you on this subject?
14:16 June 30, 2010 by skatsouf
@ Kevin Harris:

that was the best thing ever posted in The Local..simply & sarcastically genious!
14:52 June 30, 2010 by eZee.se
"a history of music didnt break through cause of lack of management and high prices, and of course 100 other festivals in sweden!!!! "

BINNNNNNGO!

But wait a bit and you will have a couple of trolls or paid shills saying it was "piracy", in fact I am surprised they have not already commented here.

I guess its vacation time for them as well.

Here's an example on how the music industry flips things, even on respected news agencies like the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7445777.stm

After reading that, here's the question, how can someone steal something when it was offered for free?

The fans got it via a more efficient distribution method AND saved the artists bandwidth costs - but to the music industry it was "stealing", it was just shameful that the BBC didn't catch them on that among a host of other points. Investigative reporting is really a dead art.
14:53 June 30, 2010 by boby
Dear Kevin

I just read today that a clear majority of young Swedes between 18-28 support the green-red islamofachist coalition. That shows you more than anything, how anti American Sweden really is. The young generation obviously is even more biased against the west then their parents, and they support the coalition of parties that oppose US openly and 'call on US to close down all military bases overseas'.

Cancellations of festivals where Americans perform is only one symptom of a growing trend. We all remember what happened in Gotheborg on the G8 summit. I can not imagine what will happen to an individual if he displays the starts and stripes openly in Sweden. The mob won't leave him a chance.

I hope that soon American state department will consider to issue a travel warning to Sweden. This is what happens when you mix Swedes which the majority of are hard line extreme left that adore the soviet union china and north korea with immigration from countries that are traditional enemies to US.
15:32 June 30, 2010 by Åskar
Dear boby,

You still know eff-all about Sweden and your ignorance does not even make you funny.
15:36 June 30, 2010 by RobinHood
#Åskar

You are totally wrong. Boby's ignorance is very funny.
16:09 June 30, 2010 by Kevin Harris
Boby, once again you are spot on.

I have just been for a walk in my old stars and stripes T shirt. It was awful.

A young Islamofascist called Jesper interrupted a pro-Taliban rap he was composing on his I phone and threw dog poo at me. This is most unusual; Jesper is usually such a pleasant 12 year old, and a very good goalkeeper in the innebandy team. He certainly benefited from the practice; he hit me with 3 dog poos out of 4, two of those at long range against a fast moving target.

Then elderly Mrs Andersson and her Labrador Wilma got stuck in. I have bite and scratch marks all over my body from the ferocious beast. Who would have thought Mrs Andersson would bite so hard? She made really nice buns at the church midsummer party too. Someone told me after that she always gets aggressive after listening to President Ahmadinejad on Iranian international radio. I must have caught her at a bad moment.

Finally, as I lay prostate before Mrs Andersson and Wilma, my stars and stripes T shirt now bloodied, torn and stained with dog poo, my neighbour Ingemar, on his way home from the weekly Communist Party meeting, ran me over with his Saab. That's the last time I lend him my 6 meter ladder. The last thing I remember is the fading image of Jesper, Ingemar and Mrs Andersson setting fire to my T shirt while chanting "Death to America". Then Wilma peed on me and I blacked out.

If this type of thing can happen in suburban Sweden to someone they know, God only knows what they will do to an American tourist. I am not even American by the way. Americans who are reading this, under no circumstances come to Sweden. If you are already here, use the time honoured American escape routine and pretend to be a Canadian.
17:17 June 30, 2010 by mjennin2
Dear boby: Please stay in school, dear. We can't have your stupidity reaching maturity in adulthood, that would be tragic.
17:23 June 30, 2010 by GefleFrequentFlyer
Ha ha. Kevin, that was awesome and well executed! But, there are shreds of truth in Boby's assertions. When I first showed up in Sweden 10 years ago, it was still "cool" to look towards the USA, primarily Hollywood, not so much Washington though. Nowdays, there is some of what he describes as "Red-Green Islamofascism" showing up all over sweden. Even speaking with thirtysomethings, down to teens accross all socioeconomic levels, they tend to spout this interesting brand of twisted misinformed anti-western, anti-american banter. In light of this latest Israeli crisis and the tendency for Swedes to support the "underdog", no matter what the facts are, only now makes perfect sense: Sweden is poisoned.
21:30 June 30, 2010 by nielsl
haha boby, you should move to the Netherlands. This dude Wilders also connects everything to islam, doesnt matter if it's a loss in sales for a lipgloss factory or a shortage of support items for the dutch national team. What a joke :)

used to live in Hultsfred for a while. Really hope they can get the festival up and running again, because they don't have much else besides this and a bunch of factories.
21:57 June 30, 2010 by Ugly A
Does anyone know what bands were on the bill?
10:58 July 1, 2010 by J Jack
@boby, you speak of 'hate America' & 'jihad' in the same post on a public forum. Don't be surprised to find yourself on a NO-FLY list. Happy 4th of July dumb-arse.
11:46 July 1, 2010 by soultraveler3
Lol, boby is either a troll or a complete moron.

Swedes hate America so much that half the shows on tv are old American shows, they love MTV and McDonalds and Kiss just played their biggest concert EVER in Stockholm. I'm 29 and most of my Swedish friends want to live in the states, mostly in LA as well. Sure sounds like they hate Americans! /rollseyes

Just a fyi, most young Americans say the same things that Boby accuses young Swedes of saying. We also think we should take better care of our people, shut down most military bases and get out of the ME. We care more about the enviroment and equal rights than money and power. We've seen the damage caused by older generations and want to try and make the world a better place.
14:19 July 1, 2010 by glamelixir
Lack of management, I agree.

The way the music industry is handled in Sweden (internally) is quite poor. Having worked abroad for more than 12 years in this business, I see a total lack of leadership and a non assertive use of economical resources.

As for Swedes hating America... so I wish! I hope Swedes would be less ass licking towards the stupid hollywood culture. Please.
16:23 July 1, 2010 by d_s
Hahhaaa, this must be one of the 'most quality' threads ever in thelocal's formidable boards. If you are bored at work, this stuff comes highly recommended!
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