THE recent cancellation of the Good Vibes Festival 2023 in Sepang, Selangor, late last month had dealt a big financial blow to event organiser Future Sound Asia.
The many food and beverage vendors that joined the three-day festival suffered losses as well.
Fortunately, these food traders received some respite after the Communications and Digital Ministry gave them the opportunity a week later to set up their stalls at the three-day Kembara Riuh carnival, which took place in Fraser Valley, Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor.
But another overlooked victim of the Good Vibes Festival cancellation was the production team of the event.
"Good Vibes was supposed to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a much bigger event compared with previous editions.
"With the cancellation, our losses are estimated at RM3 million," said founder of Digital Aid Sdn Bhd, Henry Hari Ram Mariapan, in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Henry, 44, has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years and Digital Aid, a dynamic sound and light production dry rental company, provided the A-to-Z technical service to support the festival.
"We provided the equipment and personnel, with 90 per cent being local and 10 per cent from Singapore.
"The manpower consists of sound engineers, lighting programmers, lighting designers, content people and more," he said.
Henry added that the gear he had provided for the multiple stages at the venue were international standard A-Class equipment, which don't come cheap.
"They were in line with the concert riders (requirements from foreign artistes) and had to be brought in from overseas. So, there are heavy costs involved.
"And there were 100 fulltime and freelance personnel who were hired to handle crew duties from sound, lights and LED to structure, video and other details.
"Right now, we're in the red. It's a tough situation," said Henry, whose company is a certified distributor in Malaysia for the state-of-the-art sound system brand from France, L-Acoustics.
He was involved in the production for the Guns N' Roses and The Killers concerts during past Formula One Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix seasons in Sepang.
Other events he's worked on include shows at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands, Pahang and all the previous installments of the Good Vibes Festival, as well as events in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Henry hopes the government can lend a helping hand to provide some opportunities to the production side to alleviate some of the losses incurred.
"I am hoping that the government through its relevant agencies will reach out to the right people who suffered losses.
"The opportunities that they gave to the vendors who were affected was a good thing. But a lot of people down the line suffered as well.
"Perhaps the government can accommodate us by providing some jobs."