THREE weeks ago, the highly awaited Good Vibes Festival 2023 was cancelled by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil after one of the performers, Matty Healy from The 1975 went on a drunken rant against Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
Following the cancellation, the organiser - Future Sound Asia (FSA) have recently announced that the refund submissions are now open. However FSA are now asking ticket holders to consider donating the refund money either in full or even partially to help save the festival for future years to come.
In a heartfelt post on the festival’s official Instagram account, FSA announced the mechanics of the refund.
“We are deeply saddened by what happened and know it is important to present a refund mechanism to help offset the costs that many of you have faced. The mechanism is not perfect, and it may not satisfy everyone fully, but we hope you understand that we are trying to fairly compensate ticket holders as best we can.
“As you choose your refund option, please bear in mind that we want to be able to continue to put on this Malaysian festival that we love and are proud of and that we hope brings joy to you too; we want GVF to survive. If you can spare or defer any amount of your refund, it would be greatly appreciated and go a long way towards helping to #SaveGVF.”
There are four forms of refund offered by FSA:
1. You can request a partial refund and donate the remainder
2. Forfeit your entire refund and instead have your ticket converted for GVF 2024 or GVF 2025 ticket, which includes a RM100 beverage voucher
3. Forfeit your refund without converting your GVF 2023 ticket and donate the entire amount to the festival.
4. Request for a full refund of your ticket
FSA’s refund appeal has definitely garnered mixed reactions from netizens.
Quite a few netizens chided the organiser’s refund request, saying that the organiser should be accountable for what happened. Others were unsure if a GVF would even be held next year. But some came to the organiser’s rescue and were more than happy to donate their refunds to save the festival.
