Ticket-holders have reacted angrily after Wet'n'Wild Sydney cancelled its inaugural NYE Festival with just six hours' notice due to "a major technical production issue".
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Billed as Australia's "first ever (music) festival to be held at a water theme park", event tickets ranged from $110-$200.
A statement from event organiser One Cube Entertainment was posted on the Wet'n'Wild Sydney website on Tuesday morning at about 10am, six hours before the festival was due to start at 4pm.
“We have made the very difficult decision to postpone our New Year's Eve event at Wet’n’Wild Sydney,’’ the statement said.
‘‘This decision is in the best interest of our patrons due to some last minute production issues.’’
Unhappy customers: Wet'n'Wild plagued with angry complaints.
The event will be moved to Australia Day, the statement said.
But with the festival 95 per cent sold out, ticket-holders have reacted furiously to the last-minute announcement which has left them with no alternative to celebrate the arrival of 2014.
A stream of abusive comments plagued the festival's Facebook page, where even by mid-morning on Tuesday organisers were still boasting the festival was "almost sold out" and urging people to buy tickets.
Jake Brady, 22, travelled to Sydney with two of his friends from Melbourne and one friend flew in from Perth to spend New Year's Eve at Wet’n’Wild. The group bought VIP tickets, which cost $200 apiece, and spent $3300 on eight nights of accommodation split between them.
Mr Brady also spent more than $200 on train and airfares from Melbourne.
“We originally wanted to go here because Melbourne boys Will Sparks and SCNDL plus Adelaide prodigy Uberjakd were headlining and we love them, plus it’s a once in a life time opportunity to have New Year’s Eve at Wet’n’Wild water park as a music festival.
“I think we should be given a refund at least plus extras for making our whole way up here. It’s really disappointing,” said Mr Brady.
On Facebook, Jackson K Samuel wrote: "Hope you guys know that you are utterly hopeless and ruined thousands of peoples new years."
Ellie Del wrote: "Last time I checked you can't really postpone New Years, it only happens once a year."
Sheree Rachelle added: "It takes a lot to get me angry you have ruined EVERYOnES plans I work in entertainment media and tourism there is NO WAY you didn't know this prior to today ! And ps it is absolutely disgusting that no one has let anyone know I was getting ready and got a screen shot sent to me from a friend from one of your many advertising Fb pages!"
Music acts slated for the festival included Belgian producer Gtronic, Melbourne DJ Will Sparks, electronic act Uberjak'd and Sydney DJ Tigerlily, and patrons were also to have access to the park's rides.
Wet'n'Sydney opened earlier this month and boasts of having "some of the tallest and fastest water rides in the world".
Ticket holders phoning Wet'n'Wild were reporting 40-minute delays on the company's 133 386 booking number.
One Cube Entertainment said it would contact current ticket holders with additional information about the new event. For further information contact the event promoters on: info@nyefestival.net.au.
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/resize/frm/storypad-38aa7Z4QzDgQR8kRzdxXWY3/b2566da3-86c3-4ea9-93d3-7a0f0c40e4c3.jpg/w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Wet'n'Wild Sydney cancels New Year's Eve Wet'n'Wild Sydney cancels New Year's Eve](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-38aa7Z4QzDgQR8kRzdxXWY3/e6efb149-c960-4958-a3ae-960a5534dd1b.jpg/r0_3_1201_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-38aa7Z4QzDgQR8kRzdxXWY3/f303108d-a1e9-450b-82f1-0272af9255f9.jpg/r0_3_1201_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/10385529-d344-4eda-ba62-2611bb67d967.jpg/r0_60_3512_2036_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/f1a1c87d-f56f-4ee4-8658-65a31adcfbe1.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/2e6b0e21-54c8-449b-b073-47bfc6450a52.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/2725c109-2377-4c3a-9133-f7157fbf4263.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/6a5fd6f5-a39f-4248-ba71-bf25585ed51d.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/f5b86d78-7a0d-4420-9d73-3f704759031d.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/3a722712-423a-444d-8ca8-f3554e3f726f.jpg/r0_0_2288_3433_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/d3fcedde-2583-44d5-b929-d5589a3bd84b.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/3bc43745-b282-4a4a-9a50-3d94c3f9e4a1.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton The opening day of the new Wet'n'Wild water park in Sydney in December. Picture: Ben Rushton](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-32BMdhde3WuQNVaNVAFXm76/57071f4d-3e25-4b13-8700-d84abe981a19.jpg/r0_191_3672_2257_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)