Lost Paradise Confirms Festival Is Going Ahead After Ticketing Platform Shut Down
A monumental effort from the Finely Tuned team has assured that Lost Paradise will go ahead despite losing "millions" in ticketing funds to collapsed company Lyte.
Lost Paradise 2023 (Credit: Jordan Munns)
Glenworth Valley (Darkinjung Country), NSW-based music festival Lost Paradise has confirmed that it will go ahead during the New Year’s period despite its ticketing platform, Lyte, shutting down unexpectedly in September.
In a new statement shared by Simon Beckingham, Founder of Finely Tuned, which runs the festival, it was revealed that Lyte diverted “100% of Lost Paradise ticket funds” into a bank account outside of the event organisers’ control before transferring the funds into an offshore account Lost Paradise can’t access.
Beckingham and the Lost Paradise team have been in court trying to get the funds back – the festival’s Lyte Collapse FAQ says that 95% of tickets sold in the first 48 hours of going on sale – but hasn’t received any of the funds. Beckingham says that the amount missing is in the “millions.”
Thankfully, the Lost Paradise team has sourced enough funding to go ahead from 28 December to 1 January 2025.
You can read Beckingham’s statement below.
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Ticketholders will receive instructions via email regarding their tickets, which are now coming to them via the festival’s new ticketing partner, Megatix. Tickets will be issued in the coming days, with more details available in Lost Paradise’s Lyte Collapse FAQ.
The 2024 edition of Lost Paradise marks the festival’s tenth anniversary. To celebrate, this year’s event features artists like FISHER, Tinashe, Royel Otis, Sammy Virgi, Flight Facilities, Marlon Hoffstadt, SG Lewis, and stacks more.
You can buy the remaining tickets to Lost Paradise 2024 here.
Simon Beckingham’s statement:
We are thrilled to announce that Lost Paradise 2024 is going ahead as planned this December with our lineup and full festival experience unchanged!
This situation has been a monumental challenge to overcome, and you deserve an explanation.
2024 was on track to be our fastest sell-out in history. But celebrations took an unexpected turn with the sudden collapse of our ticketing provider, Lyte. Before shutting down, Lyte diverted 100% of Lost Paradise ticket funds into a bank account outside of our control, then transferred them offshore out of our reach. Despite our best efforts through lawyers and the Courts, we have been unable to gain access to the ticketing money.
In complete transparency, Lost Paradise has not received any ticket funds despite selling almost all of our 2024 tickets. The amount missing is in the millions. Despite the odds, we did not give up.
Our small, eight-person strong team at Finely Tuned remained determined to find a way to make the festival happen. It's been an exhausting and stressful rollercoaster involving many rabbit holes.
Thankfully, Lost Paradise means so much to so many. And with the generosity and support of our artists, staff and suppliers we set out to source enough funding to enable us to operate the 2024 festival.
Today, we are thrilled to announce we have pulled off exactly that, and Lost Paradise 2024 is set to run as planned - Dec 28 to Jan 1, 2025.
Not only is it our tenth anniversary, but we have now overcome the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. This is going to be one hell of a celebration!
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