Nordic Live Productions continues operations despite payment default listings

Event organiser Nordic Live Productions will proceed with four major summer festivals this year despite three entries on Finland’s public payment default register totalling around €10,000, Yle reports.

Chairman Jens Lönnqvist stated the listings—linked to debts incurred during the company’s restructuring—will be resolved within one to two weeks and pose no threat to operations. “These will be cleared from the register shortly,” he said, noting most of the underlying debt to equipment rental firm Cramo Finland has already been repaid. The two remaining entries involve smaller claims from debt collection agency Lowell Suomi.

Lönnqvist acknowledged weakened consumer purchasing power as the primary challenge, with ticket sales increasingly concentrated just before events. While Espoo Wine Festival sales have risen 1.5-fold year-on-year, the company recently cancelled Seinäjoki’s Solar Sound festival due to poor advance sales. Kokkola Wine Festival was also scrapped to focus resources on the four largest events: Porvoo Wine Festival, Espoo Wine Festival, Vaasa Festival, and Kainuu Music Festival.

“Last year was tough, but we’ve stabilised the restructuring programme,” Lönnqvist said. “The biggest issue now is the economic climate—people simply have less disposable income.”