The festival bloodbath continues well into 2017, as the only the strong survive. While everybody knows the spectacular fall (and rebirth) of SFX, another dance music promotion company is teetering on the edge of oblivion. Pollstar is reporting that the CEO of HUKA Entertainment has left the company, and that HUKA may have been completely dissolved.
Reports indicate that the phone number for the company is no longer in service and the social media accounts have gone dark since May. Beyond that, a box office report submitted by an agency for a concert in August noted that “Huka Entertainment was recently dissolved”.
HUKA Entertainment began promoting Alabama’s Hangout Fest (although it no longer manages the festival). Today HUKA manages festivals like BUKU, Tortuga, and the infamous Pemberton. Things all fell apart with Pemberton, which sent shockwaves through the community. Pemberton, in British Columbia, went belly up much in the way Fyre Festival did. There were no refunds and the company went bankrupt. It shocked the world because HUKA and Ticketfly were involved, so this was not some random festival. The cancellation was so shocking the company was called out by WME Head Marc Geiger.
As of now everything surrounding HUKA is up in the air. Will BUKU and Tortuga festivals get the axe in 2018 as well? Only time will tell.