Drumcode Festival Malta cancels 2022 edition due to crisis at events company Pollen

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  • This is the second year in a row the techno promoter has been forced to cancel its Malta edition.
  • Drumcode Festival Malta cancels 2022 edition due to crisis at events company Pollen image
  • Drumcode Festival Malta was forced to cancel its 2022 edition due to issues with events partner Pollen. Drumcode—which postponed last year's festival in Malta due to the pandemic—confirmed the news via Instagram earlier this week. Pollen was responsible for providing the venues, ticketing and accommodation at next month's event. Earlier this week, the loss-making, venture-capitalist-backed start-up entered administration after failing to find a buyer, Sifted reports. "Over recent weeks it has become clear that Pollen's arrangements for customer and venue safety, suitable staffing and financial management don't meet the requirements of the high-quality events we take pride in delivering," Drumcode wrote. Despite a £124 million investment in April, Pollen soon found itself facing financial collapse. According to an internal email seen by Resident Advisor, sales had suffered due to issues caused by the Covid-19 variant Omicron, the tech stock crash and a general waning demand for events and festivals. Drumcode isn't the only event affected by the crisis. Pollen, which has offices in London, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, currently owes money to numerous promoters, freelancers, artists, staff and customers. One source told RA that some staff still haven't been paid June or July's wages. Last month, Pollen hired Goldman Sachs to help find a buyer and was in talks with major venture capital firms Northzone and Lansdowne Partners, Sky News reports. But no deal was struck. According to the internal email, Pollen's parent company, StreetTeam Software Limited, has now tasked administrators with restructuring the company. Launched by brothers brothers Callum and Liam Negus-Fancey in 2014, Pollen sold events and travel experiences around the world, working with dance music promoters such as Defected, Electric Zoo and Cityfox. Read Drumcode's post in full.
    RA has approached Pollen for comment.
RA