Rockathon Festival in danger after Tickets.ie collapse

"Rockathon 2026 could be our last," an Instagram post by the organisers has revealed, as the fall-out from the Tickets.ie fiasco escalates.

Already, the Rory Gallagher Festival in Ballyshannon has gone public about the impact that the controversial closure of Tickets.ie has had, leaving a huge debt to the festival for tickets sold unpaid – and a huge variety of suppliers high and dry as a result.

The Rockathon festival, which is styled as “the ultimate tribute to the rock gods”, takes place at Fairyhouse Racecourse, with 40 bands playing over three days over the June bank holiday weekend this year. The event is, according to its own mission statement, "a community led rock music and cultural festival built around shared experiences, live performance and keeping rock music alive.”

Now, however, the future of the festival is in grave jeopardy, as the organisers reel from the news that money owed for ticket sales via Tickets.ie will now not be forthcoming.

“Just two days after this year’s festival, Tickets.ie, the platform where you bought and paid for your tickets, collapsed, and we were never paid for the ticket sales,” the organisers say.

They go on to explain the extent to which the people to whom they owe money – from musicians and bands through PA and lighting hire companies to security – and including Fairyhouse Racecourse – cannot be paid.

“We are devastated by the situation we have been forced into,” the organisers say. “The festival which you helped us build is now in serious jeopardy.”

Tickets.ie is 75% owned by a UK company called myticketservices. However, the ultimate ownership resides with DEAG Deutsche – a German company which is the ultimate parent company. DEAG also has the ultimate controlling interest in the Irish promotion company Singular Artists, in which it holds a 55% majority stake.

The full extent of the debts owed by Tickets.ie has not yet been revealed. “It’ll be interesting to see who is in that list, and who is not,” one affected band manager told Hot Press. “This came as a bolt from the blue to people running festivals. It is a disgrace, given that there is a parent company involved that will just carry on regardless. It feels all wrong, when you see a huge number of ordinary music industry workers being left without wages, while the ultimate owners are likely to be completely unaffected."

The Rockathon Festival organisers have vowed to fight on if at all possible. “”We are fighting for the artists, the crew, the volunteers the traders and every person who works tirelessly behind the scenes to make Rockathon possible,” they say. “We are fighting to save our festival. We are fighting to save your festival.. We believe Rockathon belongs to all of us – and it deserves to survive."

This year, bands paying tribute to Irish heroes Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy and The Cranberries strutted their stuff alongside bands playing music by Guns N’Roses, AC/DC, Metallica, Oasis, Queen and many more of the leading rock ’n’ roll superstars of the past five decades.

"This is awful news,” musician James O’Mullane commented on Instagram – in one of dozens of heartbroken responses to the news. "I played at it this year and it was one of the most memorable gigs I've ever done."

Below is the full statement from Rockathon:

 

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