A central Queensland council will seek compensation from Sydney hip-hop band The Herd after they pulled out the day before headlining a local music festival.
The Herd, which had been booked in May to headline Coal to Coast Festival at Sarina Showgrounds near Mackay on Friday night, pulled out on Thursday.
The reason they gave, which they also posted on their MySpace blog, was they could not perform at a festival that supported the coal mining industry.
Festival organiser David Gerrand recruited Brisbane band Butterfingers to fill the void but the council-run festival will seek compensation from The Herd for airfares and advertising.
"It was always called the Coal to Coast Festival and they took a week to decide if they would do it or not and then they pulled out at five o'clock the day before," Mr Gerrand told AAP.
"We got Butterfingers, but The Herd are a bit embarrassed by the whole thing.
"Their fee will be used to pay the other band, and the council, I believe, will ask to cover the cost of the airfares, which you can't replace, and some of the publicity costs."
Mackay Regional Council Deputy Mayor Darryl Camilleri said The Herd's late notice decision was a disappointment to the young generation in the Mackay region and gave them little chance of promoting their replacement.
"Under their contract they had no ability to pull out, so whatever we outlaid we will be trying to get back," Mr Camilleri told AAP.
The Herd posted a letter from Mr Gerrand on their MySpace website and answered their fans' questions on the same blog.
"The fact that some of the many sponsors of the event are mining companies was not made clear to us at the time," the statement said.
"It came as a complete surprise to us, not least because we are known for our stance on the environment."
The inaugural three-day Coal to Coast Festival continues on Saturday with veteran rockers The Black Sorrows headlining while Sunday's program is targeted at primary school-aged children.