Future Music Festival Asia, the dance music festival due to be held at Singapore’s Changi Exhibition Centre from Friday (March 13) has been cancelled by organisers.
Jointly promoted by The Livescape Group and Future Music Australia, the event was due to play host to artists including Avicii, The Prodigy (pictured) and Fatboy Slim.
The organisers failed to obtain a public entertainment licence for the event in time for opening. They were hopeful of being granted the certification but confirmed their application was rejected last week (March 7).
“We can confirm that we have received the official rejection of our appeal,” they said in a statement. “FMFA firmly stands behind our goal of creating a drug-free event for our festival goers to enjoy. Despite having put in place a robust event, security, safety and medical management plan which has been developed alongside both local and international experts with a combined 50 years of experience in running similar large-scale events, our Public Entertainment License has not been granted. The plans that have been developed far exceeds international standards.”
They admitted that “authorities may have [concerns] about the drug-related incidents that took place [at the event] in Malaysia last year” but reiterated “that these were isolated incidents that took place outside Singapore, which cannot and do not carry any implication that FMFA is linked to drug use or drug abuse”.
Six attendees died of drug overdoses at last year’s FMFA in Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore police said in a statement that they held “serious concerns with potential drug abuse”.
The event’s promoters told fans today (March 11): “Full ticket refunds will now be made to all FMFA ticket buyers, details of which will be made available by Monday evening.
“We are also aware of the many fans overseas that have made travel arrangements into Singapore for the festival. We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience you have been put through.”Music Business Worldwide
