Consumer rights organisation Test Achats has demanded refunds for ticket holders of the Feel Good Festival after organisers announced that the event would be postponed until 2025 due to poor weather in recent weeks.
After cancelling this year's Feel Good Festival in Liège due to weeks of rain and sodden ground, the event organisers stated on Monday that festival goers' tickets would remain valid for the following year, but refused to reimburse them. Test Achats denounced the decision, however, and is demanding that ticket holders be reimbursed.
The festival's general terms and conditions state that refunds may be granted "in the event of date changes or total cancellation." Test Achats therefore underlined that the organisers are "obliged to adhere to the terms of the general conditions which form the contractual relationship between [them] and festival goers."
Test Achats believes that this clause also holds an abusive nature in light of the Economic Law Code, as it "unilaterally alters the characteristics of the product." It claims that the categorisation of the weather as a "force majeure" (an unforeseen and unavoidable event) can be disputed.
"This is not the first time poor weather has occurred at this time of year in Belgium. A force majeure must be unpredictable and inevitable – which does not appear to be the case here," the organisation concluded.
