A Kitchener music festival is offering free admission to ticket holders to the now cancelled Roxodus festival.

SlamFest runs July 6 at Bingemans in Kitchener. The organizers of the festival, Beyond Oz Productions and On The Grand, said in a release they "want to bring the tight knit rock community together" by offering the free admission.

The cost for tickets to SlamFest range from $56 to $210.

"No gimmicks, no hidden fees, no surprises," the release said.

The Kitchener festival is headlined by Queensrÿche, Skid Row and Great White.

People will need to register to use their Roxodus ticket at SlamFest. A link to do so is provided on the On The Grand Facebook page.

Roxodus Music Fest, which was scheduled to take place July 11 to 14, was cancelled on Wednesday. Organizers said Aerosmith, Kid Rock, Nickelback, Alice Cooper and Blondie would perform.

Organizers said on the festival's website that the venue in Stayner, about 115 km north of Toronto, would not be ready in time because the location where it was to take place, the Edenvale Aerodrome, "has battled tremendous rainy weather."

The website does not say how or if ticket holders will be able to access refunds.

Cancelled shows can break trust

Gabriel Mattacchione, president of Beyond Oz Productions, said they made the move to offer free tickets because they've seen "multiple large scale events cancel and close and leave ticket holders disappointed, trust broken."

Events like the high-profile botched Fyre festival, which received worldwide attention including two documentaries, and other smaller music festivals being cancelled last minute, Mattacchione said it can impact ticket sales.

"It never helps anyone, especially the promoter, if people wait to the last minute to purchase tickets. And without trust in the production company actually fulfilling the events, no one's going to buy the ticket until the week of or at the gate," he said.

"It just makes things very, very difficult."

He said ticket sales have been good for SlamFest, so it wasn't a move to fill the venue.

"Our venue can hold up to 16,000 people and we'd like to show some good faith in the industry and give the rockers a live show," he said.

Already 500 people have RSVPed and Mattacchione said they expect another 500 people to sign up.