Published
Mon, Mar 9, 2015, 23:52
- The Singaporean festival was denied permits by government officials surrounding fears of drug abuse.
Future Music Festival Asia, originally set to unfold this weekend in Singapore, has been cancelled.
It's been a rough time for the Asian offshoot of the Australian festival, which was forced to end early last year and move away from its Malaysian home base after a series of deaths. Organizers subsequently made a move across the border into Singapore, announcing a lineup that included Avicii, Fatboy Slim and Knife Party. They started to run into trouble over the past few months, however, especially as the Singaporean government announced that drug use among youth would be made a top priority in 2015, according to THUMP.
Over the past few days, the festival's Facebook page has chronicled a dispute with officials, who have denied the festival its entertainment licenses due to fears surrounding drug abuse. With no clear solution in sight, the two-day event has been forced to cancel despite what organizers promised was "a robust event, security, safety and medical management plan... developed alongside both local and international experts with a combined 50 years of experience in running similar large-scale events."
For full info on the cancellation and refunds, check out the festival's Facebook page.