Controversial Deep Jungle Music Festival canceled, tickets to be refunded

The Deep Jungle music festival which caused controversy in recent weeks due to it being held in an elephant corridor in Habarana has been canceled following a court order.

The festival was expected to kick off on Friday, February 17, but was canceled yesterday following a court order issued by the Hingurakgoda Magistrate’s Court to halt the event, Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said.

The organizers yesterday evening in a statement confirmed that the music festival had been canceled and said that 'despite the permissions and the endorsements' that they received, the event had been halted.

"This is unbelievable and unbearable for us as a company, as it is for all our Deep Jungle fans. Ticket purchases paid for in cash will be refunded at the gate, and the online tickets will be refunded within 5 working days," the organizers said.

Environmentalists had for weeks expressed concern about the environmental damage to the Karandagaswewa Forest Reserve, a highly sensitive environmental zone by the Deep Jungle Music and Cultural Festival which was scheduled to kick off in Habarana on Feb.17.

They said that both the wildlife and the life of foreign tourists would be in danger if the concert went ahead as planned.

The venue of the festival, Karandagaswewa Jungle adjacent to the Gal Oya Division of the Huruluwewa National Park, was within the purview of the Department of Forest Conservation.

The object of the festival as claimed by Deep Jungle Entertainment (Pvt) Company, which organized the festival, was to promote sustainable tourist potential. They were of the opinion that the key to promoting the tourist industry was to open the gates to Sri Lanka’s unmatched cultural heritage and environmental beauty.