A Canada Day weekend concert by Shawn Desman in Wasaga Beach, Ont. will be free, after organizers sold only 17 of 4,500 available tickets.
Those who purchased tickets will be issued refunds and fans who won tickets in local radio contests will get to meet the Canadian pop singer instead.
"I’ve played to 17, 170, 1700 and 17,000 people... doesn’t matter to me," Desman tweeted late Friday. "Do it for the love, not for the fame."
Wasaga Beach spent $16,000 to advertise the June 30th concert. It also has to pay $69,000 to have Desman perform plus $4,500 for security at Playland Park Square.
A town official said the concert was promoted on several radio stations in the area as well as in local newspapers and on social media. Desman shared links to the ticket site with his more than 45,000 Twitter followers.
Tickets were priced at $30 in advance and $45 at the door. When the show was announced, organizers said “A limited number of tickets are available.”
Deputy mayor Nina Bifolchi complained that Desman, who hasn’t released an album since 2013, is not the type of entertainment Wasaga “residents and visitors are interested in.”
She added: “The town hires staff to be in the loop of what people want.”
This story has been updated since it was published.