A creditors meeting is taking place tomorrow (15 October) and Cantaloupe Group, which bought into the Big Chill in 2002 and owned 80% of the festival, is believed to be by far the largest creditor and is writing off the debt. It is now no longer involved in the festival.
Some suppliers to this year's festival, which took place in August, remain unpaid.
Chillfest was set up in 2002 when the festival moved to its current home in Eastnor Castle in Hertfordshire. Festival group Festival Republic bought the rights to Big Chill last month in return for a goodwill payment made to Chillfest, and as a result it will operate the 2010 event.
"The festival had become so big and meant so much to a lot of people that we didn't want it to go under, as many have," said festival co-founder Katrina Larkin. "We felt the responsible thing to do was not to sell tickets but to look for a buyer to guarantee its future."
When buying the event, Festival Republic set up a further company – Big Chill Republic – to run it. Larkin has been appointed as a director of the new company but insists the role is creative rather than financial.
About a year ago there were ten staff operating Chillfest, only two remain.
The fact that some suppliers remain unpaid has caused .
In 2008's records from Companies House, Chillfest owed £622.493. The situation is said to have worsened in 2009. But a further company, Big Chill Group, which owns and licenses the Big Chill brand, is still operational and on 6 October saw the opening of , a venue in the west England city.
The Big Chill festival will take place at Eastnor Castle from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 August 2010.
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