Organizer of the Jamming Festival breaks his silence and claims that his debts are around 29 billion pesos

On March 18, the country rose to the news that the Jamming Festival, one of the largest and most anticipated of the year, was canceled. Around 150,000 people who had bought their ballot and who came from countries like Peru and Ecuador were left with their hands crossed, not to mention the hundreds of enterprises that invested tens of millions in this event.

Everyone, both spectators and exhibitors, wanted one thing: for their organizer, businessman Alejandro Casallas, to put his face on and, in some way, carry out the corresponding acts of repair; however, the dentist by profession does not appear, and instead, who did show his face was his father, Luis Alberto.

The candidate for mayor of Anapoima in 2016 broke his silence after the failure of the music festival's cancellation, and did so to expose the causes of what was initially classified by the organizers as a “postponement” of the festival that had more than 100 artists of national and international standing on its roster: from Feid, to Caifanes, to The Black Eyed Peas and Los Caligaris, who gave a free concert in Bogotá after arriving in Ibague and encountering the Jamming fiasco.

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Casallas indicated in dialogue with RCN News that the cancellation of the event began with the cancellation of several artists a few days after the start of the event; likewise, he noted that, according to him, all the confirmed artists did so because they had already been paid the money requested to appear in the Tolima capital; he even stated that for reasons associated with covid-19, several urban interpreters got off the bus.

“Specific genres of music such as reggae came down from the festival out of personal convictions, and they occasionally do not accept the vaccine against covid-19 and our country has restrictions on the entry of any foreign citizen who is not vaccinated,” said father, the founder of the event and the Casa Babylon bar, where hundreds of people came looking for a refund or an answer regarding the event.

Such cancellations were interpreted by many of the attendees as a “betrayal”, which is why Casallas explained that his son received threats “where they said 'Jamming lost its essence, there are other genres that we don't share, we are going to protest in Playa Hawaii. We do not allow the festival to change its genre, '” which was a red flag among the organizers, especially in Luis Alberto, who feared for the safety of the holiday.

The businessman recalled the outrages generated at the National Strike in April 2021, and was afraid that something similar would happen in Jamming after the cancellation of reggae artists. In that sense, he chose to ask for the cancellation of the biggest musical event of the year in Colombia a few hours after its start.

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“I didn't want to have my conscience or that of the festival stained with blood; I wouldn't have the face to show a father who said that his son failed at that festival”, keeping in his position that it was necessary to cancel the big concert.

In that order, because of their decision to 'save lives' and protect those who were going to attend the event, they now owe (he, his son and the organizers), about 29 billion pesos as a result of the sale of 150,000 tickets. In addition to that, there are the dozens of entrepreneurs and small entrepreneurs who sold part of their properties for betting on the event.

Finally, Casallas said that “There is not a single burden that we have stayed (...) here we are showing our faces, and showing our faces does not mean putting ourselves in the role of victims, we don't want that.”

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