Attorney General Tong to investigate problem-plagued Capulet Festival

Connecticut attorney general William Tong will investigate a music festival held over the weekend in Hartford.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Tong said his office has received over 60 complaints from ticket holders of the problem-plagued Capulet Fest .

“Nothing makes me more angry than seeing people in our state getting ripped off,” Tong said. “As a consumer and as a fan, what happened to the people who paid for tickets is outrageous, wrong and unacceptable. That’s why I am announcing an investigation. What we know is that people were told they would get a three-day music festival at the Thompson Motor Speedway and that it would be accessible and safe.”

The investigation is against Capulet Entertainment LLC and its owner Estevan Vega, who changed the location of the three-day music festival from the Thompson Speedway to the Webster Theater in Hartford, a smaller venue over an hour away. The rock festival was supposed to run June 28 through June 30 but several bands dropped out after the venue change and some fans were told there was no longer room for them. On Sunday, the event’s last day, the festival was suddenly canceled, with some fans scrambling to get refunds.

The Thompson Speedway, the original venue for the festival, is an outdoor motorsports park that can fit up to 10,000 people. The Webster has a capacity of just 1,200 plus an additional 250 for its “Underground” space. But the theatre sat mainly empty Thursday and Friday with many bands and fans not showing up, according to social media posts from attendees.

“Despite our best efforts and due to unforeseen circumstances, Capulet Fest concluded on Saturday night with a spectacular performance by Skillet,” Capulet Fest LLC announced on its website without offering any additional explanation.

But in a statement, The Webster posted that the event promoters had failed to meet financial and other agreements with the venue.

Tong is also calling the music festival a potential public safety hazard.

“Inadequate attention has been paid to safety, hygiene, toilets, first aid, to ambulance, to health care, to security,” Tong said. “People were promised a three-day festival in Thompson and it was moved. There was limited disclosure and not a lot of notice. The Webster is like a tenth of the size of the Thompson Speedway. People paid at least $65 and there were three tiers of tickets, so real money that people earned and paid for. They should have got what they were promised and they did not.”

Ticket prices ran from $65 for a one-day pass to as high as $700 for a full weekend VIP experience. Many attendees also purchased overnight lodging reservations in nearby campsites for the three-day festival that could be booked at $100 per night, according to the festival’s website .

Tong said he cannot promise ticket holders will be refunded but is advising anyone who lost money to “use all necessary avenues” to try and reclaim their funds while the investigation is ongoing.

“We have scant information right now but we have made contact with their counsel, we expect them to fully comply with our request for information,” Tong said. “But I want to make it clear that I don’t know if Capulet is a big company, I don’t know what Mr. Vega’s financial condition is and I don’t know where the money is. So until we get some answers, I’m not in a position to make any commitments or promises as to what we can deliver, except that we can deliver our full weight and scrutiny in this investigation to get to the bottom of it.”

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com