Doune the Rabbit Hole, Scotland’s biggest outdoor camping festival, is ‘not paying performers’ when selling tickets in 2023

Scotland’s biggest outdoor camping music festival has been accused of failing to pay performers despite launching ticket sales for next year’s event.

Doune the Rabbit Hole, who returned to the Cardross Estate in July for the first time in two years, confirmed there were still “outstanding payments” due to musicians who performed at the event.

One performer, who does not wish to be named, said he was “ignored” after contacting the festival about payment.

The anonymous artist told STV News: “I reached out, but so did everyone else. Ignored again and again.

“If they knew they wouldn’t have any money, they should have told the bands beforehand so we could make our own decision to play for free.

“They all lied to us. He said we were paid to do a job, then said, “Oh, actually, we don’t have any money.”

“It’s now a scam because they’re selling tickets knowing it won’t cover the cost.”

Headliners at the Stirling Festival, which ran from July 14 to July 17, included Amy MacDonald and Belle & Sebastian.

A spokesperson for the festival said “supply chain issues” were affecting revenue levels, making it unable to cover the budget costs expected for the 2022 event.

They said: “At the end of Doune The Rabbit Hole 2022 there were outstanding payments.

“Supply chain issues have increased costs across the board and our revenue levels, while appealing to our largest audience, have not increased enough to cover the full 2022 budget in addition to sunk costs throughout 2020 and 2021 as we waited for lockdown measures to ease.

“Half of all tickets were sold before 2020 at prices that would have been significantly higher had we known the event would be delayed two years and 40% more expensive to deliver.”

The festival said investment had now been sought to “fill in the gaps” and they had reached out to affected artists.

The spokesperson added: “We only book acts we like and the idea of ​​letting someone out of pocket is the very antithesis of our intent.

“Investments have been sought to fill the void and there are very positive signs that this situation will soon be resolved. Those affected by this temporary cash challenge have been notified and kept up to date and we are very grateful for their patience and understanding.

“Bringing a music festival back to 2022 was never going to be a walk in the park, and we are so grateful to all of the artists, teams, volunteers, vendors, music fans and families who together created a truly special and memorable event. , which is now Scotland’s largest independent outdoor music festival.

“We look forward to moving forward and delivering our best festival yet in July 2023.”