The organizers of Capulet Fest now face a class action lawsuit in the wake of the ill-fated festival in late June.
Attendees are seeking ticket refunds after the festival-gone-wrong switched venues, changed its performer lineup and canceled its final day of performances.
In a complaint filed last week in federal district court, four ticket-holders accused Capulet Entertainment LLC and its owner, Estavan Vega, of conducting a “bait and switch” scheme against attendees.
“Contrary to the three-day, outdoor festival experience promised through their promotional materials, would-be concertgoers found themselves hoodwinked by Capulet Fest 2024,” the complaint said.
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The festival — tickets to which cost upward of $700 in some cases — kicked off with a last-minute lineup and venue change that saw Capulet Fest cancel several scheduled performances and move the festival over an hour away from its planned venue.
“At that point, the Event was a mere shadow of how it was advertised,” the complaint said.
In a June 27 Facebook post, Capulet Fest blamed “some miscommunication with the production crew” for the late switch from Thompson Motorsports Speedway Park in Thompson to The Webster in Hartford.
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The three-day festival then came to an abrupt end after just two nights, with one band saying the festival “was shut down midway through their set when security came in and made everyone leave,” according to the complaint.
The festival organizers took to Facebook following the second night of performances to cancel the third and final day of the festival.
“No one sees the sacrifice. All they do is judge. We did everything we could. We hope you had fun. We did our best,” the since-deleted Facebook post said in part, according to the complaint. “Goodbye.”
The complaint said the festival’s early end was “purportedly due to the festival organizers’ failure to pay the rent.”
This explanation seems to align with the statement released by The Webster in the aftermath of the festival, which said the organizers failed to meet their financial obligations.
“The Webster did its best to be supportive and do right by the rock community and attendees who were left with no place to go this past weekend, due to the lack of communication and planning by the festival organizers,” The Webster said.
The class action lawsuit accuses the festival’s organizers of breach of contract, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and violation of consumer protection laws in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
The plaintiffs are looking to recoup the costs associated with tickets and attendance, as well as for the “emotional distress caused by the festival’s shortcomings.”
“Despite promises of a world-class experience, Defendants failed to deliver on their contractual obligations, thereby breaching their contract and deceiving thousands of consumers in New England,” the lawsuit said. “This class action lawsuit … seeks to redress the widespread harm caused by Defendants’ deceptive practices and ensure accountability for their egregious misconduct.”
The problem-plagued rock festival is also being investigated by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who last month said that “what happened to the people who paid for tickets is outrageous, it’s wrong and it's unacceptable.”
