Facebook fight over Epizode music festival in Vietnam as competing organisers of event accuse each other of fraud
- When an upcoming Epizode music festival in Vietnam was announced on Facebook, it started a war of words
- Two groups have claimed to be the founders of the festival and are accusing each other of fraud
A battle is brewing over the ownership of one of Vietnam’s biggest annual music festivals, with two rival camps accusing each other of fraud and music fans left questioning the legitimacy of the festival’s 2020 edition, scheduled to take place at the end of this year.
The drama surrounding the Epizode Festival is the latest upheaval to affect the event’s organisers. Epizode was launched on Vietnam’s southern resort island of Phu Quoc in 2016 by a Ukrainian team which previously ran the Kazantip festival on the Crimean Peninsula from 1992 to 2013 until it was forced out by the 2014 Russian annexation of the region.
An attempt to bring Kazantip to the Cambodian island of Koh Pos failed in 2015 when it was banned by local officials out of fear it would involve “indecent activities”.
However, Epizode has been a success story for the organisers on Phu Quoc, with attendance tripling from 5,000 in the opening year to 15,000 at the previous festival, which ran for a marathon 11 days from December 31 to January 10 this year. A-list international artists including Carl Cox, Nina Kraviz and Ricardo Villalobos have appeared at Epizode over the years.
The latest drama began on June 10 when an event titled Epizode: Epilogue – to take place in Phu Quoc from December 29 to January 10 – was launched by a new organisation on Facebook. The next day, the administrators of the original Epizode page on Facebook issued a statement saying a “fake event” had been launched and they had been victims of a “fraud”.
“We were shocked to hear this. The decision to hold the next Epizode festival has not been taken yet due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. We closely monitor the course of events and the festival dates will be announced as soon as we can be confident of the safety of our guests,” the statement said.
However, the team behind the Epizode: Epilogue event responded by saying: “Another organisation has laid claim to the Epizode brand and event … We are the legal owners and founders of Epizode. The original management team now reclaim the organisation to bring you the event that you know and trust.
“The other organisation was associated with the event in 2019 and has now been released but continues to hold the gateway to the official social channels. It is with these channels that they are making their statements. The legal return of these platforms is already in progress.”
After the statement was posted by the administrators of the original Epizode page, many social media users accused the Epizode: Epilogue team of creating a “fake” festival and urged festivalgoers to steer clear of the event scheduled for later this year.
In a statement to the South China Morning Post, a spokesman for Epizode: Epilogue said: “The transfer of ownership started last year, but it was never finalised. This included getting another team to run the festival management, operations and communications before the process was closed. They took over and finalised last year’s edition – the fourth edition of Epizode.
“But the founder has dismissed the team he previously gave the management rights to and decided to prepare this year’s festival with the original team who created and built Epizode from the first edition.”
Responding to the Epizode: Epilogue team’s allegations, the administrators of the original Epizode page sent the Post information on businesses registered in both Russia and Vietnam which it said proved they were the owners of the festival.
The Epizode: Epilogue team has won the support of a number of influential artists who have appeared at previous editions of Epizode – including German DJ Sammy Dee and Mexican electronic music artist Hector.
The hashtag #realepizode has been trending on social media, and many artists have shared a post saying: “There is no time for any doubts or confusions. The fifth edition of @epizode.festival is going to rock and together we will make it explode like never before! I support the team who started this amazing project in Asia and I submit my full vibe and support.”
