Ever After Music Festival organizers could face class action lawsuit

What was meant to be three days of fun and music has seemingly turned into a three-year ordeal.

It seems a years' long struggle continues for those who've sunk hundreds if not thousands of dollars into plans to attend the Ever After Music Festival.

“Absolutely, I had two kids between now and buying those tickets,” said Emma Catto, a would-be festival-goer who says she spent nearly $400 on a pair of passes back when the festival was supposed to be held in Kitchener — in 2019.

In the years since, the festival has seen multiple delays and a change in venue. It had been supposed to run at Burl's Creek in Oro-Medonte in mid-August but that too was cancelled after the township denied organizers a required permit.

“So I know that many are now out thousands of dollars in plane tickets and hotel fees and so-on and so-forth,” said Catto. “Whereas I'm somewhat lucky as being closer to the event grounds and only being out the cost of a ticket, a lot of people have lost a lot more on this.”

Shortly after suggesting they were still looking for a path forward, organizers were forced to cancel the three-day festival and took to social media to say an email had been sent out containing all the information needed to obtain a refund.

Since then though, those waiting for their money back say it's been radio silence.

“There's no way to contact Ever After,” Catto said. “I know several people have tried contacting them through social media and they'd get back and say they'd do something about it and basically just go 'ghost' on them there.”

In an Instagram post dated August 16, festival organizers suggested refunds were being processed but it could take up to 15 business days for some to receive them.

“What they've been doing [since] is they've been taking away the abilities for ticket buyers to comment on any of these new updates on social media so there's no way to show that no one's receiving their refunds,” Catto said, adding people had taken to commenting on older posts instead.

“And they're still not answering anything, they're actually deleting the posts so that people can't see that the refunds haven't been issued yet,” she said.

At last check, the festival's website also appears to have been taken offline. CityNews 570 did attempt to reach out to festival organizers for an update through the event's PR firm but even that was a dead-end.

“I'm still trying to figure out something because it's not pocket change losing $400 to a festival that never happened and I know that there are many people in a worse situation than me,” said Catto. “The only next step would be grouping with some others in a class action lawsuit of sorts or just keep on waiting, but at this point I don't think we can trust [the organizers] to do the right thing and refund everyone who bought tickets their money.”

She went on to say, one way or the other, this experience has likely taught her and many others a valuable lesson.

“As far as buying any tickets for a festival, I'm definitely going to be reading those terms and conditions fully to make sure that I'm protected in a circumstance like this,” Catto said. “And as for this festival, I hope that it never runs again.”