Aima Baig slams Pak Fest organisers for ‘using her name’ to promote concert but not paying her
Singer Aima Baig has accused the organisers of Pak Fest, a music festival in Lahore, of using her name to promote their event but not paying her. That’s why, she says, she did not perform at the music event that took place from March 10 to 12 in Lahore. The event’s organisers have not publicly responded to her claim nor have they responded to Images’ request for a comment.
On Sunday, Baig posted on Instagram, claiming that the organisers failed to pay her. “I’m writing this note to express my disappoint[ment] here regarding using my name for ticket selling after non payment of my services,” she wrote.
The event was held at the Khayaban-e-Amin Cricket Stadium in the city. This was the second year the event was being held.
Despite the organisers’ failure to pay, they continued to promote their event with Baig’s picture on the tickets, she claimed. “I regret to participate in Pak Fest Lahore and instead of removing my name from the participation, the organisers were making money [using] my name. They were [misleading] people and fans who were buying my tickets to the concert. We have not received any communication or explanation from the Pak Fest Lahore’s end, which has cost undue stress and inconvenience to me,” she wrote.
She felt upset for her fans who bought tickets to see her. “I’m very disappointed due to this non-professional behaviour and [defamation], as people who love and watch my concert[s] bought the ticket[s] and I didn’t join due to payment issue,” she said.
The singer stressed that action must be taken by the organisers to make amends. She also shared a picture of the ticket with her face alongside performing artists.
This was the second edition of the music festival. It featured performances by multiple artists over several days. Last year, Rapper Bohemia performed at the event. According to Bookkaru, this year’s festival had more than nine artists performing. Pak Fest shared posters of singers Ali Zafar, Asim Azhar, Bilal Saeed, Kaifi Khalil, Faizan FBR, 3 TAAL and Soleh Rehman.
This isn’t the first time an artist has publicly called out a concert or music festival organiser. Hasan Raheem sent a notice to Lahore’s Musik Fest’ organisers for failing to pay him in advance last year and he and Asim Azhar had announced their intention to take action against the organisers of Summer Jam Colour, another music festival, that used the singers’ names to promote their event despite failing to pay them.
