Welcome to Rockville offering partial refunds for bands canceled due to severe weather
DAYTONA BEACH — In response to a flood of complaints from disgruntled fans, the promoter of the Welcome to Rockville music festival is offering partial refunds to ticketholders for two days of the event that were cut short by severe thunderstorms at Daytona International Speedway.
“We are as disappointed as you are that Rockville’s 11th year was interrupted on Friday and Saturday,” the event’s promoter, Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents, stated in a post that generated nearly 1,500 comments on the Welcome to Rockville Facebook page this past weekend.
“Even though the weather is beyond our control, we would like to offer Welcome to Rockville 2022 Friday & Saturday purchasers, along with weekend pass purchasers, the option of either a partial refund or a special value to rock out with us at another DWP festival,” the post stated. “An email to all purchasers has just gone out, please check your inboxes.”
It’s not immediately clear whether this is the first time such a refund has been offered by the promoter, but the gesture does represent a departure from a policy stated on the event’s website, welcometorockville.com, that refunds will not be provided for events canceled due to extreme weather.
How the weekend unfolded: Welcome to Rockville halted Saturday by storms in Daytona; more expected Sunday
Hoteliers offer rave reviews: Rockville recap: Despite storms, music fest boosted Daytona hotels; some fans not as happy
The announcement was generally greeted with elation by fans commenting on the Facebook post.
“This is incredible of the DWP team to do!” stated Chantel Lin Hall, of Portland, Maine, in a post that reflected the reaction of many ticketholders.
“We bought these passes knowing the risk of Florida’s weather in May!” Hall wrote. “They were under NO OBLIGATION to do this for us!!! As disappointed as I was to miss some great shows, I was still so happy with the performances we did get to see! This is so incredible of them!!! Thank you DWP!! You are the true mvp!!!”
In another comment, Brent Faulk, of Denver, offered similar praise.
“Wow! (I) was disappointed but not your fault, that kickback is very appreciated!,” he wrote. “What a show!! Looking forward to next year! Thank you and Rock ON.”
Severe weather knocked Korn, Guns N' Roses off lineup
Because of severe weather over Daytona International Speedway during the event weekend of May 19-22, two of Rockville’s four headlining bands, Korn and Guns N’ Roses, didn’t perform at the festival. Other bands also were knocked off the schedule on Friday and Saturday, as the promoter scrambled to re-set the festival lineup as a series of strong storms pummeled the Speedway.
For much of the event on Friday and Saturday, frustrated fans were herded to shelter in the Speedway grandstand or in their vehicles during multiple delays caused by lightning-laden storms that occasionally packed potential for high winds and quarter-sized hail.
After the festival was cut short for the second consecutive day on Saturday, there were complaints from fans on the Welcome to Rockville Facebook page about congestion in the parking lots and in the concourse of the Speedway grandstand, as well as demands for refunds on tickets purchased.
In response, Danny Hayes, CEO of Danny Wimmer Presents, hosted a 35-minute Facebook Live Townhall with festival fans on May 25. In that session, he said talks about potential refunds were underway.
Rockville townhall: No refunds — yet — for angry fans of Daytona's Welcome to Rockville
“We are in conversations with the insurance company,” Hayes said. “It is not solely our decision. This is a process and I need you to bear with me.”
The festival, which opened on Thursday with a headlining performance by KISS, concluded without weather interference on Sunday, capped by a performance by closing-night headliner Nine Inch Nails.
Welcome to Rockville ticket prices ranged from one-day general admission passes at $119.99 plus fees for Thursday’s opening day to one-day VIP passes starting at $239.99 plus fees for Thursday and Friday; weekend general admission passes at $294.99 plus fees; and weekend VIP passes at $614.99 plus fees.
On the festival’s website, welcometorockville.com, festivalgoers are advised that while Welcome to Rockville is “held rain or shine,” the event also “may be delayed and/or canceled and the festival grounds may be evacuated if inclement or severe weather poses a threat to patron and staff safety.”
In such cases, “no refunds or exchanges will be given as a result of weather conditions; and no refunds or exchanges will be given for inclement or severe weather that necessitates an evacuation, delay or cancelation in part or whole of the event.”
In a second post on the Welcome to Rockville Facebook page on Saturday, the festival’s promoter offered advice to ticketholders for locating emails with the refund details.
The post advised ticketholders for the two weather-affected dates and those with weekend passes to who hadn’t yet received emails to check their spam folders.
“If you signed in with Facebook when ordering tickets, or used a different email than you primarily use, check those inboxes,” the post stated. “The emails were sent to the email addresses associated with the purchase. If you don't have access to those email addresses, we can help you at info@welcometorockville.com. … We read EVERY email, and are diligently working to get back to everyone as quickly as we can.”
The event is slated to return for its third consecutive year at Daytona International Speedway on May 18-21, 2023.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Welcome to Rockville offers refunds for weather-shortened shows
