Director of the festival Chen Shu made a public statement after being taken to the police station to settle disputes with the contracted companies. He admitted there were problems with the management of the festival, and he would try to pay back the 8 million yuan ($1.26 million) he owes contracted companies as soon as possible.
I interviewed Chen last year, when he was preparing to hold the festival in October, in Mianyang, another city in Sichuan. He seemed very optimistic and estimated that an overall audience of 200,000 would attend the festival. That didn't work out because the local government changed its mind, but Chen was still optimistic about his festival and decided to hold it in Chengdu, in June.
In terms of lineup, Big Love was the best music festival of the year, with top-notch Chinese artists like Cui Jian, Xie Tianxiao and Miserable Faith, pop artists Chyi Chin, Alan Tam and Chang Chen-yue. There were also international acts like Extreme, Suede and Lisa Ono.
Chen had hoped to attract a huge audience by assembling the best musicians. He succeeded in this, but he failed to generate enough income.
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