Ballarat Frolic Festival is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. Accessibility is important in all of our work, including financial accessibility.

When organising our events, we set our ticket prices at the lowest price possible to recover our costs of running the festival. This can be a gamble if we don’t sell enough tickets, but we think it’s one worth taking for our community. This is why events that would normally cost $50-80 at other festivals can be accessed for only $30-40 at ours. We also include free events in the program.

Refund Policy

When you can request a refund

We understand that sometimes things happen and you may need to request a refund. If that’s the case, please contact us as soon as possible at bookings@frolicfestival.org so we can review your request.

Our refund policy is based on the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), which states that consumers have rights if an organisation fails to deliver what they promised. You can find more information about the ACL here.

If we cancel or make a major change to our festival, such as:

• changing the date

• changing the location

• changing the headline act

you are entitled to a full refund. You may also have other rights under common law, contract or state legislation, depending on the situation.

How to request a refund

Contact us as soon as possible at bookings@frolicfestival.org and let us know the reason for your refund request. Please include your name, email address, order number, and ticket details in your email.

If your request relates to an aspect of the festival where you feel we’ve not met your expectations, it’s important to us to fully understand your request and aim to learn how we can improve our festival for the future. We may request to contact you to enquire further.

We will aim to reply to your email within 48 hours and confirm if your refund request has been approved or declined. We will also inform you of the refund amount and method, and any other relevant information.

What we will offer you

If you are entitled to a refund under ACL, we will aim to process it within 14 days of receiving your request. We will refund you the same amount that you paid for the ticket, including any fees or charges. We will also refund you using the same method of payment that you used to buy the ticket, unless you agree otherwise.

However, if you request a refund for any other reason, we may charge a cancellation fee or offer you a credit for a future festival, depending on the circumstances.

We will assess each case individually and fairly, and we will try our best to accommodate your needs and preferences. If you are not entitled to a refund, but we decide to offer you a credit for a future festival, we will inform you of the terms and conditions of the credit, such as the expiry date, the value, and the events that you can use it for. We will also send you a confirmation email with the details of the credit.

COVID-19 Refund Policy

Organising events in a pandemic era is difficult, but we’re committed to our mission of bringing the community together and doing so in a way that keeps our attendees, our volunteers, and the broader community safe.

During these times, we understand that planning and booking tickets ahead can feel like a risky move, and so we want to give you some assurance.

Options for COVID-19 affected customers

If you’re unable to attend an event due to contracting COVID-19, there are a number of options available to you. You can:

• Seek a refund

• Get a credit for a future Frolic Festival event

• Donate the ticket back to the festival to assist with our financial viability

• Gift or re-sell your tickets to a third party (like a friend or family member)

• Choose to donate your ticket to the Pay It Forward list so that a financially disadvantaged community member can attend in your place

How to request a refund or credit

If you test positive for COVID-19, have symptoms or exposure, or are required to isolate or quarantine within 14 days before the event, please do not attend the event. Instead, please contact us as soon as possible at bookings@frolicfestival.org and let us know your situation. We will offer you a refund or a credit for a future event, depending on your preference.

What we will need from you

Please note that you may need to provide proof of your COVID-19 status, such as a positive test result, a doctor’s certificate, or a public health order. We appreciate your honesty and cooperation. We will then seek to re-sell your ticket.

We ask you to understand

As our festival is run at cost, this COVID-19 refund policy does create a level of risk to the ongoing financial stability of Ballarat Frolic Festival. Say, if 10%+ of people request a refund only 48 hours before an event it’s unlikely we’ll be able to re-sell those tickets and will make a loss. 

We kindly ask that if you’re in a financial position to do so, that you please consider forgoing the refund request and donate your ticket back to the festival or to our Pay It Forward list. This will ensure our future financial viability and ability to pay artists and production crew without impacting on our future viability. It will also allow us to pass your ticket along to a vulnerable member of the community who might otherwise not be able to attend our events. Let us know if you’d like to do that by emailing bookings@frolicfestival.org.

If you’re not in a position to forgo the refund, we understand and will process a refund upon providing proof of your COVID-19 status.