Ultra Singapore will be indoors due to bad weather forecast amidst cancellation rumours

Festival organisers have three days to get the venue ready.

Matthias Ang | June 05, 2019, 04:06 AM

Ultra Singapore 2019 is still on.

Just that it will be under shelter at a smaller venue and not outdoors.

At least that is what the festival organisers are claiming with three days left to go to the two-day weekend event.

Statement issued

The festival organiser issued a statement at 9pm on Tuesday, June 4, clarifying that the June 8 and 9 festival has been shifted indoors to the B2 level of the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands.

One contributing factor is due to foresseable bad westher, the organiser told The New Paper.

The festival, occurring since 2016, was previously held outdoors at the Ultra Park, an open field next to Marina Bay Sands Tower 1.

But this shift indoors represents a possible drastic downsizing of the venue area, from some 60,000 sq m to 17,000 sq m -- and a possible lack of pyrotechnics that is a staple of the outdoor festival.

The statement also said that it regretted not informing fans earlier due to the logistics required in moving the venue at such a late stage.

Fans were aghast at the venue change, which was new information relayed to them via email on Monday night, June 3 -- less than five days to the festival.

Rumours about festival on verge of cancellation

Rumours on social media have also been swirling before June 4 that the electronic dance music festival was going to be cancelled.

Construction of the Ultra festival venue and its three stages had not started on the outdoor field with less than a week to go.

The annual music festival is run here by executive producers Alex Chew and Raj Datwani.

The rumours also accused Chew of being involved with payment issues with vendors and that no government permits had been approved for the event.

The hastag #fryefestivalsingapore was also used, as a reference to the Fyre Festival, which was supposed to be the biggest event of 2017, but turned out badly.

Source: Instagram

Payment issues occurred in the past but no report of lawsuits

Allegations of vendors not getting paid promptly can be traced to at least one source: R&B Singer Sam Rui took to Twitter, on April 5, 2018, to criticise Ultra Singapore for failing to pay her 10 months after her performance at Ultra Singapore 2017.

Rui then put out a follow-up tweet on April 6 to confirm that she had received her payment, with Business Insider Singapore reporting the amount to be S$1,860.

In another instance, Dutch DJ Don Diablo alleged that he had been "massively disrespected" by the Ultra Singapore organisers and would no longer work with them, Billboard reported.

Elaborating on his allegations, Diablo said he was told by the organisers that he was no longer welcomed at Ultra festivals and that he would not be paid for his performance, despite playing 30 minutes of his original slot.

Billboard further reported that the shortened performance had been the result of flight complications.

Neither case, however, made any mention of lawsuits that have been filed against the organisers and it is unclear if there were any.

Will festival go on?

Some fans of the festival are left wondering if the absence of e-tickets, performance timings and artiste line-ups thus far were possibly signs everything will not go as planned.

Source: Ultra Singapore Facebook

Source: Ultra Singapore (Official) Facebook

Ultra Singapore's statement

Ultra Singapore clarified in its statement that e-tickets would be sent out in the "coming hours" on Wednesday, June 5.

Attendees are assured they can expect high production values coupled with performances by renowned artistes, such as Martin Garrix, Axwell and Skrillex.

Details on the collection of wristbands, along with updated information would be available at the Ultra Singapore website, starting from 9am on June 5.

Here is ULTRA Singapore's statement in full:

"After many days of working together with different stakeholders, ULTRA Singapore is pleased to announce that the ULTRA Singapore event, which is scheduled to be staged on the weekend of June 8th and 9th, has been relocated from ULTRA Park to B2 Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands.

The logistics of moving venue at such a late stage takes time and therefore we regret not having addressed our fans sooner.  Rest assured the show goes on and event organisers are working tirelessly to deliver the ULTRA experience we are renowned for.

Attendees can expect ULTRA Singapore to showcase everything ULTRA Worldwide™ events have come to be known for, including cutting-edge production, world-class visuals and of course, performances from top-ranked artists such as Martin Garrix, Axwell and Skrillex, all of whom are scheduled to perform this weekend at the festival.

Due to a smaller venue capacity, remaining tickets are limited. Get your tickets from https://ultrasingapore.com/tickets/2019/

All E-tickets will be sent out in the coming hours.

Any queries: [email protected]

Wristband collection information as well as all updated event details can be found on https://ultrasingapore.com/tickets/2019/ from 9am 05.06.2019."

Top image from ULTRA Singapore (Official) Facebook