Organiser Craig Murray has blamed ‘media lies’ for pulling the plug on a music festival in historic Perthshire.
This year’s Doune the Rabbit Hole festival, due to be held on the Cardross Estate near Stirling from July 21 to 23, has been cancelled.
An announcement says the event, which was set up by Mr Murray’s son Jamie in 2010, has now ended “for the foreseeable future”.
A message on the event website blames a boycott and “campaign of misinformation” by the Bectu trade union.
But a joint statement released by Bectu, the Musicians Union and Equity said many of the headline acts from last year were paid nothing other than deposits.
They say more than £1 million has been amassed in unpaid bills to both bands and staff.
Attendees will not be given refunds, with ticket-holders being asked to contact their banks instead.
‘Go big’ strategy failed to pay off
Mr Murray, who served as rector of Dundee university from 2007 to 2010, wrote in his blog that he had put in his entire retirement savings of £300,000 to help pay debts.
“I have also put in thousands of hours of unpaid work,” he added.
The festival went into liquidation in December 2022 after a “go big” strategy for that year’s event that “was nearly pulled off”.
The former diplomat – who spent time in prison for breaching strict rules around identifying witnesses at the Alex Salmond high court trial in 2020 – wrote that after promising signs an anticipated late surge in tickets did not happen.
“With a week to go…sales were still not picking up, and it was now too late to cancel,” he added.
“Life became really unpleasant.
“Money was lacking to pay people for essential, safety critical equipment and operations, and I found myself cashing in all my pension savings and paying for these things direct.”
Company liquidated ‘to seal off the debt’
Despite owing £800,000 to musicians, staff and other creditors he decided to run the festival again in 2023.
The parent company Doune the Rabbit Hole Ltd was put into liquidation “to seal off the debt,” he wrote.
“But with an agreement with the liquidator that any profits from 2023 and future festivals would go to the liquidator, until all creditors had been paid off in full.”
Under the management of new company Festival Food Beverage and Property Services he said ticket sales were initially good.
“Then from about November 2022 began an astonishing series of media and social media attacks on us, ever mounting in vitriol, and very often aimed at me personally,” he wrote.
“They frequently repeated a series of lies that became unquenchable social media myth.”
He insisted that one inaccurate media claim was that Doune the Rabbit Hole had paid nothing to artists and crew for the 2022 festival.
“Whereas in fact we had paid over £380,000 to artists and over £180,000 to crew,” he wrote.
“That is in addition to over £750,000 to suppliers.
“The technicians’ union Bectu has appeared frequently all over the media claiming that Doune the Rabbit Hole has debt from multiple years.
“We have told them repeatedly that we do not believe it is true.”
‘Those owed from 2022 will now never be paid’
Mr Murray further claimed that “coordinated attacks” on the festival were launched across the media in December 2022, and January and May this year.
He wrote: “Two of these ‘coincided’ with the very day of 2023 first lineup launch – traditionally our largest sales day – and of our final lineup announcement.”
“Well, the campaign has worked,” he added.
“Ticket sales are now so poor we simply cannot afford the infrastructure needed to put the event on safely and in accordance with council standards.
“Over 30 bands have received 100% payment for this year’s performance and many more have received part payment.
“Many suppliers have already been paid.
“But we just can’t get it home, and it is not fair to try to sell more tickets when the event may not happen.
“So now we have the irony that many artists have been paid to play but will not perform this year, while many performed and were not paid last year.
“Because of this campaign to close the festival, those owed from 2022 will now never be paid.”
‘Once bitten twice shy’
Mr Murray is a controversial figure in Scottish politics.
In 2021 he spent four months in prison, having been given an eight-month sentence for contempt of court.
This was for publishing information on his blog about four women who gave evidence against former first minister Alex Salmond.
He urged festival ticketholders to apply for refunds through their card issuer.
“But I am extremely conscious that this is not an instant process and many families’ holiday plans will be messed up,” he added.
Online there were mixed reports of success regarding refunds.
One punter wrote: “£347 for our family’s tickets! If I don’t get refunded we might just have to camp there anyways!”
A woman from Dunfermline wrote: “I’ve been on about this since last year after they didn’t pay my daughter’s band.
“All I can say is once bitten twice shy.”
