Music

The Gathering of the Juggalos is broke

by Tyler Munro

Word out of the trailer park today is that The Gathering of the Juggalos could be done for, with Psychopathic Records admitting that they’ve yet to pay most (if not all) of the summer festival’s vendors.

The Southern Illinoisan says that cheques from Psychopathic Records have been bouncing if they were issued at all. Hardin County Sheriff Jerry Fricker says his office was counting on a donation that would go towards protective vests and Tasers.

“It was a decent amount they were going to donate,” he said. “I’m kind of old-fashioned. I waited until the check cleared before I ordered anything.”

Meanwhile Event-Tex, the company that’s supplied power to the festival three years running, says they’re still owned $54,000 for this year’s festivities.

“In conversation with many of the other vendors who were contracted for the event, it has been learned that none of them have been paid,” said owner Patrick Gail in a statement. The accusations build from there; the festival’s amusement ride partner says it could “lose a lot of stuff” if not paid the owed $40,000 and the fest’s ever pivotal toilet provider says he’s also waiting on a “substantial” amount of money.

In total, it’s thought that the festival owes its vendors somewhere in the range of $300,000. Critics have taken this to mean the end of The Gathering of the Juggalos, but when has being broke ever stopped a juggalo from doing anything?

Here’s what Psychopathic Records had to say:

“Putting on a five day music festival this ambitious is a very time consuming and expensive process. Unfortunately, in our attempt to provide the best possible event for our fans, expenses exceeded estimates and expectations, which we had not previously planned for. The company putting on the event, Juggalo Gathering Inc, has no intention of turning its back on these financial obligations and is in the process of preparing a plan to take care of all vendors. We thank all of our vendors for their understanding.”