CENTRE HALL – The Karoondinha Festival, the major three-day music festival planned for Friday, July 21, through Sunday, July 23, at Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park in Centre Hall, has been canceled, for now.
Organizers said they hope to still make something happen at the site, but that it will not be as had been scheduled for July.
In an official statement posted to the festival website around 9 p.m. June 27, they said:
“We are deeply saddened to announce that Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival will not take place during the scheduled dates of July 20-23, 2017. From the beginning, our vision was to create a unique destination experience that brings music fans and artists together for an amazing weekend in a beautiful setting. Our entire team has been working tirelessly to have the event take place as planned, but have found it necessary to reschedule. We are fully committed to returning and are working to confirm alternate dates and arrangements. To everyone who has believed in Karoondinha, we are thankful and hope to continue to earn your support in the future.”
The festival deleted its social media accounts and wiped all but a logo from its website. Co-organizer Paul Rallis told Billboard that costs soared while ticket sales did not meet expectations.
“The event as planned will not take place July 21-31 (sic), 2017,” Rallis told Billboard. “We’re looking at other options at this moment and hope we can make something happen in some way. We’re not walking away from the vision of the idea in any way, because our commitment is still to make something great happen in this area — it’s just not going to take place on the scheduled days.”
Rallis and his sister Kaleena Rallis reportedly raised $5 million from local investors to stage the music festival, which was to feature such big-name acts as John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Paramore, Odesza, Sturgill Simpson and the Roots, to name a few. But Billboard says they did not come close to reaching their expected sales of 25,000 to 30,000 tickets.
Paul Rallis told Billboard they are working out the process for refunds. The ticketing company for the festival, Eventbrite, advanced the organizers a portion of ticket sales and Kaleena Rallis said their attorneys are “working through that with Eventbrite.”
Eventbrite said in a statement, “We have been in communication with the organizers of Karoondinha, which has been postponed. We will work closely with them to process refunds as quickly as possible for those interested in cancelling their orders. Details on timeframe to follow.”
General admission three-day passes were selling for $279 plus fees, with different packages available, including VIP passes for $649.
Natives of central Pennsylvania who have worked in the entertainment industry for the past decade, the Rallises announced the multistage camping festival in February with a first wave of acts headlined by Legend. The siblings grew up working at Penn’s Cave, their family’s business, and wanted to bring a destination event to the area.
A second wave of artists was announced in May. In all, the festival was set to include dozens of artists, from major national and international acts to local performers, spanning a variety of genres.
According to Billboard, some talent agencies became concerned when calls were not returned recently. The agent who booked Odesza and Porter Robinson said he required that his artists be paid in advance.
Kaleena Rallis told the publication that they spent too much on fees for marketing and site prep, and that sponsorship deals did not meet expectations.
The organizers added they should have scaled down from planning an event for 30,000 attendees to about 8,000.
“I think what we’ve learned in all of this is that the key part of putting on a successful festival is having a sustainable business model, which we obviously didn’t have going into this,” Paul Rallis said. “The way this was structured in terms of its scale and projections was not sustainable.”
