This year's Quart festival, which was scheduled to take place July 2-5 in Kristiansand, Norway, has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

"It is sad for all those who've worked so hard to make this year's festival a success that we were forced to make this decision. The Quart festival is an institution in Norway and is very important to Kristiansand and the area in the most southern parts of Norway," Quart festival board leader Stein J. Olsen said.

"We are proud of this year's festival lineup and the program had received acclaim within the music business. At the same time, we have to admit that we didn't hit bull's eye with the audience," stated festival manager Daniel Nordgård.

Kristiansand's mayor, Per Sigurd Sørensen, is disappointed that the festival is cancelled.

"It's really a pity," he said. "Quart is a very important festival for Kristiansand." The mayor added that he was informed about the festival's cancellation this afternoon.

The festival — which was supposed to include performance from MAYHEM, BENEA REACH, KEEP OF KALESSIN, CLUTCH, CRADLE OF FILTH, BLOOD RED THRONE, NILE and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN — sold a significant number of tickets to sponsors and various companies, but the sales to the general public have been surprisingly low. Only 2,053 tickets had been sold through Billettservice (the biggest ticketing company Norway) as of early June, forcing the organizers to file for bankruptcy.

"We want to insure that none of the ticket holders will suffer from our decision to call the event, and we will therefore refund their money as much as we possibly can," Olsen said.

The Quart organizers added that increased competition from other big festivals in the same area, such as the Hovefestivalen — which will be held June 23-27, 2008 on the island of Tromøy, just outside the city of Arendal in Norway — contributed to the low ticket sales. Hovefestivalen has reportedly already sold 40,000 tickets to this year's event.

(Thanks: Roy Kristensen / Imhotep)