Zoo Thousand and Eight organisers speak out

United Kingdom | | 08 July 2008

The festival first ran into trouble on the Friday (4 July) when two acts were culled from each stage before festival-goers were even onsite before one of the headliners, Dizzee Rascal, failed to turn up for his slot.

The grime star was the first of many acts to pull out before The Rascals, Roni Size and Athlete followed suit. Other criticisms about the event included stage closures, long queues and poor toilet conditions.

Speaking to BBC News, festival director Danny Blanche said: "Our biggest problem was one of miscalculation over cashflow. This required us to make the pragmatic decision to cancel a few acts.

"Obviously, none of this was ideal or planned - and not the quality of experience that we had aimed to deliver - and for that we unreservedly apologise to all those affected by the situation."

Talking about the rumours that some artists weren’t paid, he added: "We want to stress that this was our first festival and that we have dealt with all problems directly and will continue to do so in preparation for next year."

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