While summer and its open air festivals are in full swing, The Ultimate Rockfest 2024 in the Swedish city of Karlskrona, which was supposed to take place indoors at the Brinova Arena on 28 September 2024, has announced its cancellation. In a refreshingly open statement, the organisers of The Ultimate Rockfest 2024 not only explain the reasons for its cancellation, but also provide concrete figures:
“Despite solid attempts to market the festival and with a hope that this year’s event would be as successful as 2023, it is with heavy hearts that we have to cancel 2024. Ticket sales are far below what we hoped for, 3 months before 2023 we had sold 1400 tickets and then sold almost 300 more in the remaining months, about 1700 people visited Brinova Arena for The Ultimate Rockfest 2023. We had plans to expand with individual events in 2024/2025, but the prevailing trend of poor ticket sales, canceled tours has affected us as well. Despite our lineup, we have sold just under 200 tickets for 2024. We are therefore making the decision to cancel this year’s festival. And to leave Karlskrona indefinitely. We will still organize smaller events […], but we are pausing festival events in the arena indefinitely.” – The Ultimate Rockfest
At the same time, the organisers assure that the 2025 edition of The Ultimate Rockfest, which has been in the making since the beginning of 2024, will take place, but with a completely different line-up and at a different location, namely in Helsingborg, about 220 km away from Karlskrona:
“In 2025 we arrange 11/10 in Helsingborg arena instead and hope for better success there with a completely new lineup that has been planned for 2025 since the beginning of the year. Those of you who have bought tickets can therefore choose between keeping your ticket until 2025 or contacting Nortic and requesting a refund. Thank you for sharing The Ultimate Rockfest 2023 with us and an extra big thank you to all the bands who have shown understanding of what we have to do. /Gabi and Jonas, The Ultimate Rockfest.” – The Ultimate Rockfest
For The Ultimate Rockfest 2024, Hardcore Superstar and H.E.A.T were booked as co-headliners. Other bands in the line-up included Lucifer, Trench Dogs, Smash Into Pieces and The Cruel Intentions.