''We wanted to go here because Melbourne boys Will Sparks and SCNDL plus Adelaide prodigy Uberjakd were headlining and we love them, plus it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have New Year's Eve at Wet'n'Wild water park as a music festival,'' said Mr Brady. ''I think we should be given a refund at least, plus extras for making our way up here. It's really disappointing.'' On then off: Wet'n'Wild posted this image on its NYE Festival Facebook page about 10.30am. Credit:Facebook On the event's Facebook page, Jackson K. Samuel wrote: ''Hope you guys know that you are utterly hopeless and ruined thousands of peoples new years.'' Ellie Del wrote: ''Last time I checked you can't really postpone New Years, it only happens once a year.'' NSW Fair Trading Minister Stuart Ayres said it was ''totally unacceptable'' to shut down an event with six hours' notice.

''Thousands of people have been let down,'' said Mr Ayres. ''Consumers have every right to be disappointed by the late cancellation.'' Unhappy customers: Wet'n'Wild has been plagued with angry complaints. About 8700 tickets were sold for Australia's ''first ever [music] festival to be held at a water theme park'', at prices ranging from $110 to $200. About 10am on Tuesday, One Cube Entertainment issued a statement blaming the cancellation on ''a major technical production issue'', but the manager of an artist scheduled to play at the festival said the organisers had attributed the decision to health and safety concerns raised by Wet'n'Wild. ''We have made the very difficult decision to postpone our New Year's Eve event at Wet'n'Wild Sydney,'' the statement said. ''This decision is in the best interest of our patrons.''

A spokesman for Wet'n'Wild Sydney, Darrin Davies, said:''Our priorities are always safety and comfort in the water park. ''We had some transport and logistics issues we raised with One Cube and they made the decision to postpone the event.'' The original statement from One Cube said the event would be moved to Australia Day, but with the festival 95 per cent sold out, ticket-holders reacted angrily to the last-minute announcement. By Tuesday afternoon organisers were promoting an alternative event at what was to be the festival's after-party venue, the Roxy Hotel at Parramatta. A spokesman for One Cube Entertainment said all tickets sold through Moshtix would be refunded. ''For other ticketing outlets we are putting a system in place for refunds,'' he said.

Mr Ayres said all patrons would be dealt with according to Australian Consumer Law. ''These provisions require consumers to receive a full refund when services are not provided, if they so choose. ''We expect the promoters to provide full refunds to patrons who want one. The ACL provides for consumers to receive compensation for consequential loss, where services aren't delivered,'' he said. The problems on New Year's Eve follow other teething issues for Sydney's newest theme park. Loading

On the first Saturday of the public school holidays, several rides were knocked out of action and the park had to put up a ''full house'' sign, turning away would-be visitors. And on the day before, a thunderstorm forced the closure of the park, affecting about 10,000 people. One Cube Entertainment said it would contact ticket-holders with additional information about the new event. For further information contact the event promoters on: info@nyefestival.net.au.