Artist Pulls Out Of Festival After Hearing White People Charged Double

Festivals are usually seen as inclusive, judgement free places but one American event has caused uproar by charging white people double to enter.

Afrofuture festival in Detroit priced its tickets based on race, with its website stating the 'people of colour' tickets were half the price of tickets for 'non people of colour'.

Rapper Tiny Jag, who was booked for the event, pulled out, saying she was 'enraged'.

She posted on Twitter: "A non-POC friend of mine brought to my attention that AfroFuture is requiring non-people-of-color to pay twice the amount to attend the festival as POC.

"This does not reflect the views of myself or the Tiny Jag team. I will not be playing this show. I apologize for anyone who may have been triggered or offended."

Speaking to organisers of the event she said: "You booked a biracial woman to play a show charging part of her family double than the other part because of your goal to single-handedly remedy the state of black equity with your discriminatory ass festival without her awareness."

Eventbrite, the company who was listing the festival's tickets, threatened to take the festival off the site.

A spokesperson said: "Our mission is to bring the world together through live experiences. We strive to provide a platform that enables people to gather for their chosen purpose, and that reflects diverse viewpoints, so long as they don't violate our terms.

"We do not permit events that require attendees to pay different prices based on their protected characteristics such as race or ethnicity.

"In this case, we have notified the creator of the event about this violation and requested that they alter their event accordingly. We have offered them the opportunity to do this on their own accord; should they not wish to comply we will un-publish the event completely from our site."

Following the very public backlash, the festival has decided to reverse its original pricing to make it equal, although non-POC attendees are said to be encouraged to give an optional donation.

Explaining its decision on Eventbrite, organisers said: "Events often designed for marginalized Black and Brown communities can be easily co-opted by those with cultural, monetary, and class privileges.

"Non-POC individuals are encouraged to provide additional donations as acknowledgment of this historical inequity."

LADbible has reached out to Afrofuture and Eventbrite

Topics: Music

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@amelialadbible