New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued the organizers of a canceled upstate music festival, saying they collected $243,158.04 in advance ticket sales from 521 people and refunded almost none of them. The suit, announced Sept. 29, 2026, targets Evolutions Festival and two men who ran it, Michael and Justin Brown. Her office says only 11 of the 521 buyers got their money back, and every one of those did it by disputing the charge with a credit card company. Her office says some of the buyers reported feeling they had been scammed.
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What the attorney general alleges
According to the attorney general’s release, Evolutions was a three-day electronic dance music and arts festival set for Sept. 5 to 7, 2025, at the Sugar Mountain Performing Arts Center in Allegany County. Tickets went on sale March 20, 2025, at roughly $200 to more than $700, with camping, parking and transportation sold as add-ons. In all, the office says, 521 people bought 1,157 tickets.
On Aug. 26, 2025, ten days before the event, the festival announced on social media that it was “postponed,” blaming a venue that had not secured the permits it needed. The office says most buyers never got refunds. The defendants are Evolutions Festival LLC, 845 Vibrations LLC and the two Browns. These are the state’s allegations, and the release does not include a response from the defendants.
Anyone who bought a ticket to an event that was then canceled or “postponed” faces the same problem: the money is gone until someone returns it. The 11 refunds in this case came through card disputes, which is the one route the release shows working. Contact details also sit on data brokers and people-search sites, and Incogni sends removal requests to those brokers for you.
The vendors who paid up front
Ticket buyers were not the only people out money. The suit says 28 small businesses paid advance fees of $650 to $1,150 each to take part in a planned vendor village, for a total of $21,662.75. One Rochester-area vendor paid more than $1,200 and was told six days before the event that it was off. The organizers said refund requests would be handled quickly, but she never received one, the release says.
“Concertgoers and vendors who spend their hard-earned money in New York should know that my office has their back,” James said. She also said her office “will never allow unsavory promoters to ruin that experience.”
The law behind the suit
The attorney general says the promoters broke New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, which requires ticket money to be held in escrow and entitles buyers to a refund when a performance is canceled or rescheduled. The office says Evolutions did not hold the advance ticket money in escrow or provide the financial protection the law requires.
Separately, the suit alleges 1,185 violations of the General Business Law. The release does not explain why that count differs from the 1,157 tickets sold.
What the state wants
James is asking the court to order full restitution, meaning refunds, for all ticket holders and vendors. She also wants civil penalties of $5,000 for each of the 1,185 alleged violations, which would come to $5,925,000 if every count were upheld. The state also asks that the defendants be required to post a $500,000 performance bond before they could host any future event in New York.
A lawsuit is not a ruling. The court has not decided any of this, and the release does not list a hearing date. Assistant Attorney General Justin Haines is handling the case, under Assistant Attorney General in Charge Vinita Kamath of the Poughkeepsie Regional Office.
Chargebacks and a complaint to the attorney general
The only refunds in this case came from card disputes, so a buyer who paid by credit card has a route to try. The card issuer’s own dispute process is the place to start, and the issuer can say how long a dispute may be filed after the charge. The release does not give a time limit, so that answer has to come from the card company.
Anyone who lost money to an event promoter in New York can file with the attorney general at ag.ny.gov/file-complaint, where the “Consumer issues” category covers purchases and services. The office’s help line is 1-800-771-7755, and 1-800-788-9898 serves people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Before filing, it helps to gather the order confirmation, the card statement showing the charge, and any message from the organizers about the cancellation or a refund.
Whether the Browns respond in court, and whether buyers eventually see restitution, will come out of the case itself. The attorney general’s release is the state’s account to date.
Festival ticket scams: trim your broker-list trail
The 521 buyers in New York’s case paid a promoter who, the state says, refunded only 11 of them. Incogni asks data brokers and people-search sites to remove your personal information, sends removal requests on your behalf and keeps re-sending them. Less personal data on broker lists can mean fewer scam calls, texts and emails.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
