A generosity of hell. This is shown by the donors and buyers who participated in the "Hellfest for Health" operation. Canceled due to the health crisis, the extreme music festival organized in Clisson, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, has decided to invest in helping the Nantes University Hospital by collecting 195,000 euros.
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At the beginning of April, a participatory kitty was launched with the symbolic objective of the sum of 66,666 euros. "It was inconceivable for the Hellfest Crew team to sit idly by in the face of the current situation , " it said in the press release. "And because this festival is above all the gathering of a large family of passionate and united, Hellfest calls on its community to participate in the national effort against the Covid-19, and to support the teams of the CHU of Nantes through an online kitty ” . To date, more than 1,600 donors have raised 77,000 euros.
In addition to fundraising, Hellfest has launched a range of “Hellfest for health” t-shirts at 22 euros and fabric masks with the festival logo at 15 euros, in its online shop. A box, since the sales revenue amounts to almost 120,000 euros.
Scheduled for June 19-21, Hellfest has been postponed until next year but tickets already purchased will be reusable. Deep Purple, System of a Down and Korn were among the headliners of this 15th edition which also faces administrative problems. Albingia, the insurer of Hellfest, refuses to reimburse the losses linked to the cancellation. “We share the disappointment of festival-goers. We have discussions with the organizers through their broker and their lawyer and they will continue . The crisis we are going through is unprecedented and violent for all, by its magnitude and by its nature. Contrary to what has been indicated, this type of risk is excluded from our contracts, ” said group management.
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"If they are unable to insure, that is not my problem . I cannot be compassionate. I have the means to sue Albingia in court but I put myself in the place of all the other festivals which do not have as much cash as us. It is a scandal. If this continues, we do not exclude a group action , " retorted Ben Barbaud, boss of Hellfest, in early April.