What is Gogh-ing on?
The Beyond Van Gogh Experience has faced setback, after setback, after setback. At this point it appears their “immersive experience” will not be open on time—for a third time.
Initially, the event was announced to begin on October 14th. At that time, the production company, Paquin Entertainment Group announced setbacks through Artsbiz Public Relations and delayed the opening until November 11th.
As that date approached, the event was delayed for a second time to November 25th, again by Artsbiz Public Relations.
With its opening date one week away, many ticket holders to the event are anxious it will be delayed for a third time.
Related:
Victorians beyond frustrated with Beyond Van Gogh after multiple delays
On November 18th, Victoria Buzz received the following statement from Paquin Entertainment Group producer, Justin Paquin:
“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was set to open this month in the Starry Night Pavilion at Victoria’s Bayview Place. We know Victoria has been excited about our event as thousands of you have committed to come to the exhibition.
Unfortunately, we are not yet able to open to the public. There are administrative & permitting details that need one final round of review.
Our team is working closely with the City of Victoria and the Bayview team to resolve all outstanding matters and we are encouraged by everyone’s support.
Over the past two years, our team has installed exhibits in over 50 cities across 7 countries and we look forward to opening Beyond Van Gogh in the City of Victoria.
For those customers who would like to reschedule their tickets, we will be providing details on how to do so over email.
We are close to announcing a new opening date, but we want to be absolutely certain on a new date before we do.
Customers wishing for a refund on their existing tickets can email our customer service team at hello@vangoghvictoria.com.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay.”
The City of Victoria explained to Victoria Buzz that Paquin Entertainment has been in contact with the city for months in preparation for their exhibit to be held on city property located at Bayview Place, 355 Catherine Street.
“For Paquin Entertainment to run their show there they need to apply for a Temporary Use Permit, they need to put that application into the city,” said Colleen Mycroft, Manager of Executive Operations at the City of Victoria.
“They have not submitted an application for a temporary use permit,” Mycroft told Victoria Buzz.
“The city has been in communication with them because they want to hold their event there and we’ve been clear with them for a number of months now that for this event to go forward, they need to apply for a Temporary Use Permit.”
“To date they have not done that,” explained Mycroft.
To get one of these Temporary Use Permits (TUPs) approved involves a lengthy process in which the application must be approved by council, among several other steps, to receive approval.
Following approval by city council, the permit has to go for an opportunity for public comment, which takes even longer.
The problem with that is the council will not meet next until Thursday November 24th, which is one day before the Beyond Van Gogh Experience was planning on opening since November 11th.
It will be nothing short of a miracle to have the application process approved and the facilities dubbed the ‘Starry Night Pavilion’ within the timeframe of the next council meeting and its opening date.
Following this conversation with Mycroft, Victoria Buzz reached out to representatives of Paquin Entertainment Group regarding the sale of tickets on their site for a day that they could not confirm they’d be open.
John Tellem of Tellem Grady Public Relations (TGPR) replied by saying, “We are taking tickets off sale until we confirm a new opening date and will re-open sales once a new date is confirmed.”
TGPR is a public relations company known for crisis management that is working alongside Artsbiz Public Relations who initially handled Paquin Entertainments correspondence.
As of this publication, tickets are no longer for sale for Beyond Van Gogh, Victoria.
On social media, Beyond Van Gogh Victoria continues to post every day as if the event is going on presently. The comments of these posts are filled with unanswered customers wondering if the event will take place at all.
