Is a lawsuit coming?
“As we said three years ago, the town of Vis has nothing against Ultra, but it has against it taking place in Vis. We can see that our reaction has not been respected and there is nothing left for us to do than to launch legal measures and demand compensation, as well as an apology for the damage caused to the town of Vis,” said Vis Mayor Ivo Radica, angry with the fact that, as part of the multi-day Ultra Europe Music Festival which is based in Split, Vis is mentioned as one of the festival’s destinations, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on July 12, 2018.
The Fort George at Vis will host a party called “The Resistance at Fort George,” where the party-goers were be entertained by DJs Nic Fanciulli and Kölsch. On the Fort’s website, which has announced the event, Ultra is not explicitly mentioned; there is just a comment that the event on Vis will follow the party in Split. However, on the festival’s official website, the programme at the Fort is advertised under the name “Resistance Vis”.
The Fort George has been given for use to the Swedish group behind The Yacht Week brand. Their representatives were unavailable for comment.
“In all these years, no one from Ultra has ever contacted us or asked us for a permission to do this on Vis. In the Vis Development Strategy and the Vis Tourist Strategy, there is no mention of ‘party tourism.’ I think the Ultra organisers would not behave like this in other countries as they are behaving here, where they, without the consent of the town authorities, are using the name of Vis,” said Radica angrily.
However, the mayor did not want to explain in more detail how he intends to prevent the Ultra party from taking place at the Fort, which has been given to the Swede management team, which can host whomever it wants. “I would just like to ask Ultra organisers what would happen in someone were to use the Ultra name without their permission. We will be forced to take certain legal measures to protect the integrity and identity of the town of Vis. In the upcoming period, you will be informed about what we will do. The people of Vis are not ‘natives’ whose name can be manipulated with, because that damages the development of tourism that the town of Vis plans for the future,” said Radica.
“We will take certain legal steps, but I cannot be more specific at this point. We will analyse where and how the name of the town of Vis was used in the Ultra context. We know that names cannot be used without the consent of those who represent them,” reiterated the mayor.
Questions sent to the organizers of the Ultra Europe Music Festival have so far remained unanswered. The festival, after three days of partying, moved to the Carpe Diem Beach Club on Hvar with the “Ultra Beach After Party” programme (Paco Osuna, Carlo Lio, Fer Br), and then it will move to the Fort in Vis. There has been no response to the question of how Ultra Europe Music Festival is connected to Vis, why the announcement on the Fort George’s website does not mention the Ultra brand, while at the same time the Ultra website announces the same event under the “Resistance Vis” name. We were also unable to find out whether the Ultra organizers have contacted the leadership of Vis in recent years, what do they think about the possible lawsuit, and whether they plan to expand to other Dalmatian islands in the coming years.
Translated from Slobodna Dalmacija (reported by Mirela Goreta).
