![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976871.1721873052!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Poor communication': Calgary ticketholders uncertain about rescheduled 'Banksy' event
Uncertainty is growing among customers who bought tickets for an upcoming show in Calgary featuring the works of renowned street artist Banksy.
A former employee of the company producing the World of Banksy Exhibit reached out to CTV News claiming he and other workers have been laid off – and he fears the show will not go ahead.
According to the World of Banksy website, the “secret location” for the event is supposed to be revealed one to two weeks before. The three-day exhibit is scheduled to open on June 7 – after it was rescheduled from dates in April.
Lumio Studio, the company behind the event, alerted ticketholders via email that the Banksy art pieces were held up at the border due to issues with U.S. Customs, and despite efforts to expedite the process, the decision was made to push back the show.
Tickets were reissued to customers for the corresponding day of the week and time slot. Each purchaser was offered a $20 gift shop credit.
But according to Erik Wolf, who said he was laid off by Portland-based Lumio Studio, there was never a venue booked for Calgary.
He believes the company might have run into financial problems. He claims he was not paid for several weeks of work before he was let go.
“A lot of people have spent a lot of money and have been looking forward to this,” Wolf said.
“Up until my termination, I realized if he can’t pay me, he’s not going to put on the show.”
CTV News reached out to Lumio Studio to ask about Wolf’s claims, but the email bounced back. We also reached out to the company’s CEO Kelly Dachtler and left a voicemail.
Jackie Bernard bought two tickets to see the show with a friend who planned to travel to Calgary from Edmonton for a weekend.
She said she has been trying to secure a refund, unsuccessfully, for the tickets ever since the show was rescheduled to dates in June.
“It’s just a really unsatisfactory experience, poor communication, I’m really disappointed,” Bernard said.
She said she started to have some questions about the event when there was still no venue attached a couple of weeks before the originally scheduled dates.
Bernard reached out to Lumio Studio, and after initially receiving an automatic reply, was alerted that the show had been pushed back to June – when she wouldn’t be able to attend.
The two tickets cost just under $80, but Bernard is unsure if she is ever going to get that money back.
“I’m happy to spend money to go to certain concerts, or to go to certain artistic performances, but I don’t do it very often,” she said.
“I don’t have a lot of disposable income, so here’s this $80 that I may never see again, and that really doesn’t leave me with a very positive feeling at all.”
Upcoming shows are no longer listed on the event’s website and tickets can no longer be purchased.
The show ran in some other cities under the name Banksyland, getting mixed reviews.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976871.1721873052!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
DEVELOPING Jasper updates: Wildfire reaches townsite
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park has reached the townsite.
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.