THE TEAM BEHIND one of the most anticipated annual music events in Moray has called it a day by announcing that the Wall of Rock will not take place this year.
An annual festival showcasing the talents of young musicians from throughout Moray, the Wall of Rock stood out as a rare example of a professionally organised festival that concentrated on young, up-and-coming talent in the region.
However, the event faced difficulties last year, first in raising the required funding to allow it to go ahead – and then being called off as fierce weather forecasts made it dangerous to proceed at Station Park in Lossiemouth.
Now a recent meeting of the management group has taken the decision not to continue, with many of its members deciding that it was time to concentrate their individual talents to other projects.
Speaking on behalf of the organisers, Daniel Edwards said: “The Wall of Rock 2015 was uniquely difficult to pull out of the hat.
“Since the days of the festivals birth in 2010 we have been faced with some considerable challenges. In the early days it was overcoming lack of man power and overcoming risk – somewhere in the middle it was overcoming obstacles being deliberately placed in our way, and by the time we reached 2014 it was Mother Nature’s sheer determination to precipitate, coupled with a limited range of funding we could acquire.
“When we sat down to our first Wall of Rock meeting of the year, we were surprised to learn that so much had changed in the lives of those driving the event, even in four months.”
Mr Edwards pointed to the “negative tone” surrounding the event in the last twelve months, saying: “If you are one of the passionate fans of The Wall of Rock, I’m sure you can begin to see a negative tone beginning to flow in the detail of this message.
“When the TWOR team looked across the board room table and realised that everyone had too much on their plates to put their energy into something they love – it’s almost like a passing.”
A crowdfunding effort was launched to allow the doomed 2015 event to proceed, and those who contributed to that are being assured that they will receive most of their donation back if they so wished.
Mr Edwards said: “The Wall of Rock Committee has decided to bring the event to a close. We are wrapping up the management committee and closing the bank account. There is some hope that in the future we can pick up again when everyone’s lives are much more settled.
“We are going to pay our bills and settle our debts that are outstanding, and there are a few. Everyone that contributed to our Kickstarter campaign over the summer of 2015 will have a sizable fraction their money returned – if they want their money returned, otherwise that will go towards settling our debts.”
Everyone who contributed last year has received individual notification of the closure and an offer of around 75% of their contribution being refunded.
The organisers meanwhile thanked everyone who had made previous Wall of Rock events a success: “Thank you for the endless support and patience, thank you to the hundreds of performers that have dedicated their time and ability into making The Wall of Rock what it was.”