ArFF / Statement Closure of Hotel Castelar #01 - EN

Baubao

City of Buenos Aires, May 09, 2020

CLOSURE OF HOTEL CASTELAR - STATEMENT #1

We created this space to have a direct and transparent channel of dialogue with you and the rest of our community, today we resort to this medium to update you on a series of events that happened once our relationship with the Hotel Castelar ceased due the closing notice and our announcement of the postponement of ArFF to 2021.

To date, the Hotel Castelar has not reimbursed ArFF any amount of money used to rent its event space and facilities. The Staff received a pitiful verbal offer via WhatsApp to start paying back by the end of June in 4 "comfortable" installments, always in pesos and without any sort of indexing. 

The hotel argues that it does not have solvency, an argument similar to the one given to its 60 employees in order to avoid paying their salaries and offer them "voluntary retirements" for less than a third of their corresponding compensation. 

https://www.clarin.com/ciudades/coronavirus-ingresos-medio-cuarentena-cerro-hotel-castelar-clasico-avenida-mayo_0_PXExUU9nS.html - Newspaper article in Spanish about this

The Hotel is a centennial building, with historical heritage that is owned and managed by families with rural ventures, hotel ventures and multiple firms linked to each other. In 2021 it will probably reopen its doors under the well-known trap of founding a new firm -with the same owners- in a pitiful demonstration of our "viveza criolla".

We are currently analyzing various legal alternatives to demand and reclaim what corresponds to us and speed up the payment times.

What happens then with the event?

Everything continues as planned, the Staff handles various scenarios and always prepares for the worst of them, in this case that the hotel does not refund any money. Even in this difficult context, the organization of the Con is 100% possible, in part thanks to the anticipation of acquiring things in advance and the adjustment that must be made in terms of facilities and services that the event contracts. (Ex: lower budget for the stage, bar service, filming, etc.)

In the meantime, we are searching for an appropriate venue for the event, but we have not yet communicated with any of our candidates. Quarantine does not allow us to go to hotels or venues to analyze them and choose an appropriate place, but we definetly have options in our sights.

How can I help?

The best help you can give us at this time is to rollover you ticket to 2021 or donate it, any of the 2 alternatives are done easily with just two clicks from your account on our website. Rolling over your ticket to 2021 is a good way to freeze the price you paid now in a high inflationary context.

Another way is to visit our store at shop.furfiesta.com, in there many artists have donated their talent to raise funds to cover the loss that the postponement represents, there are excellent opportunities to get commissions at very reasonable prices and we constantly update the content of the store. 

THANK YOU!

There were many expressions of support that we received in the past few weeks, we sincerely want to dedicate this space to thank you all, this situation - added to the tension that the isolation or the restriction of freedoms generates - have put the staff in a situation of constant stress. 

The comments and all the support we have received in recent weeks have given us air: each rollover to 2021, each donation and each message of encouragement are celebrated as if we were fighting for life in a match. 

The Argentina FurFiesta Staff would like to dedicate this space to especially thank:

They have gone above and beyond, they are a symbol of an incredible community that have our backs and inspires us, they are not the only ones and in the future we will seek to recognize them more appropriately, but a thank you to the community deserves a very special thanks to them for what they have done so far for us. 

Thank you and everyone for supporting, for inspiring and cheering us in these times of adversity, this event would be nothing without its incredible community and each one of you is a living testimony of that. 

Very soon we are going to announce a surprise that we have been preparing, as always all the news we will be publishing on our networks and on our Telegram channel (@furfiesta)

Greetings, thanks and please #StayHome.
The ArFF Staff!