European festivalgoers out hundreds of euros after Music On canceled hour before start

Thousands of ticket holders who traveled from across Europe for the Music On house festival were left disappointed and hundreds of euros out of pocket Saturday after the event was abruptly canceled, AT5 reports.

A Dutch court upheld the municipality’s decision to revoke the permit for the main tent, dashing any hope of a last-minute reversal.

Up to 20,000 people had been expected at the site in Middenmeer in Watergraafsmeer. Many visitors had booked flights, hotels and other travel costs on top of their tickets.

A French visitor told AT5 that his friends were out 400 to 500 euros after paying for plane tickets and a hostel. A Dutch attendee paid about 100 euros and said it would “suck, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I am personally quite angry,” a German festivalgoer said. “Because I had been looking forward to seeing all the DJs here. But Amsterdam is a nice city, so we have to find something else to do.”

Organizers learned at 10 a.m. on Saturday that the municipality had withdrawn the tent permit following a negative safety recommendation from the Omgevingsdienst. The service said organizers switched to a different tent than originally planned and failed to provide required information about the structure.

The festival had been scheduled to start at noon. Organizers immediately filed summary proceedings. A hearing via Teams was held at 2 p.m., but the judge ruled that the mayor’s decision was made on proper grounds and sided with the municipality.

“This is the deathblow for us,” said a furious Marnix Bal, the festival organizer who is also behind Loveland. “I have never experienced this in thirty years. Never, never, never. In thirty years Loveland we have never built anything wrong. After thirty years of good service I cannot follow this.”

It remains unclear whether ticketholders will get refunds. After the court ruling, the organization posted a statement on social media: “We are still overwhelmed by emotion and we need time to process this. We understand that you have many questions. We will come back to this as soon as possible with information on next steps.”