Lost Paradise is officially moving forward for New Year’s, even after its ticketing platform, Lyte, shut down unexpectedly in September.
In a statement, Simon Beckingham, founder of Finely Tuned (which runs Lost Paradise in Glenworth Valley), shared that Lyte moved all ticket money into an account outside the festival’s control, then sent it offshore—making it impossible for Lost Paradise to access.
Beckingham and the team have been in court trying to get the money back. According to their FAQ, 95% of tickets sold in the first two days of sales, yet they’ve received none of those funds. Beckingham estimates the missing amount is in the “millions.”
Fortunately, Lost Paradise has secured enough funding to go ahead from 28 December to 1 January 2025.
Ticket holders will get instructions by email soon, as tickets will now be handled by their new partner, Megatix. You can also check the FAQ on Lost Paradise’s website for more updates.
This year is the festival’s tenth anniversary, with a lineup including FISHER, Tinashe, Royel Otis, Sammy Virgi, Flight Facilities, Marlon Hoffstadt, SG Lewis, and more.
Simon Beckingham’s statement:
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“We are thrilled to announce that Lost Paradise 2024 is going ahead as planned this December with our lineup and full festival experience unchanged!
This situation has been a monumental challenge to overcome, and you deserve an explanation.
2024 was on track to be our fastest sell-out in history. But celebrations took an unexpected turn with the sudden collapse of our ticketing provider, Lyte. Before shutting down, Lyte diverted 100% of Lost Paradise ticket funds into a bank account outside of our control, then transferred them offshore out of our reach. Despite our best efforts through lawyers and the Courts, we have been unable to gain access to the ticketing money.
In complete transparency, Lost Paradise has not received any ticket funds despite selling almost all of our 2024 tickets. The amount missing is in the millions. Despite the odds, we did not give up.
Our small, eight-person strong team at Finely Tuned remained determined to find a way to make the festival happen. It’s been an exhausting and stressful rollercoaster involving many rabbit holes.
Thankfully, Lost Paradise means so much to so many. And with the generosity and support of our artists, staff and suppliers we set out to source enough funding to enable us to operate the 2024 festival.
Today, we are thrilled to announce we have pulled off exactly that, and Lost Paradise 2024 is set to run as planned – Dec 28 to Jan 1, 2025.
Not only is it our tenth anniversary, but we have now overcome the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. This is going to be one hell of a celebration!”
