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- MS Fest was a music festival, held annually in Launceston, Tasmania Australia since 2006 until 2011 when the MS Society unsuccessfully attempted to establish a new event under the brand. Hobart, Tasmania. It was a single day event, held in February or March on a Saturday. The festival started in 2006 with a concert at Launceston's Regatta Ground to mark the 50th anniversary of the MS Society. The event sold out, and quickly became known as one of Tasmania's premier music events. In 2007 the event operation and funding was taken over by Launceston-based events company Opcon and relocated to Inveresk Showground to accommodate a larger crowd. There was a main stage, featuring mostly rock and hip hop, and a secondary stage, the Ministry of Sound arena, which featured DJ and electronic music throughout the day. In 2010, the festival returned to Inveresk Showground and sold over 13,000 tickets, the largest number of ticket sales to date. Over the years of operation Opcon attempted to negotiate an arrangement with the MS Society of Tasmania that would be sustainable and respectful of the huge financial risk the company was undertaking to deliver the event. In 2011 the MS Society of Tasmania announced that instead of negotiating a sustainable position with Opcon they would take the MS Fest brand and operate a new event, relocating to the Hobart TCA Grounds at Hobart for the 2012 show. The MS Society and its new operator commented "The commercial environment in Launceston for the event changed and MS Fest’s future became unsound. This and the opportunity to host the event at such an iconic and pristine venue such as the TCA grounds in Hobart made this the clear and sensible choice for MS Tasmania. We look forward to people making a weekend of it and travelling down for a great show." However, mere days before it was scheduled to begin, the 2012 festival was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales and the overwhelming success of Opcons rebranded festival, Breath of Life continuing in Launceston. The MS Society of Tasmania accrued huge loses with the failed 2012 event effectively losing all the funds which have been delivered to the charity over the successful years of operation by Opcon. As of now nowhere is no immediate future for the MS Fest at this point, but organisers hope to resurrect it in the not-too-distant future. (en)
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