Country music fans remain in the dark about the status of the Capital Hoedown, after the organizer of the Ottawa music festival issued a statement late Tuesday asking for "continued patience."

Concert International head Denis Benoit said the music festival is still planned for Aug. 10-12 at a ranch on Fallowfield Road in Stittsville, but said he was unable to disclose the lineup as they work "around the clock with the artists to satisfy all contractual obligations."

"We ask for your continued patience as it is taking us longer than anticipated to finalize all of our plans," said Benoit.

Benoit had said previously that by noon Tuesday the festival's lineup would be mostly revealed and concertgoers would be able to seek refunds.

Benoit said late Tuesday the festival is honouring its commitment to issue refunds to people not wanting to wait for the lineup to be released.

Festival website down

The Capital Hoedown website has been down for at least a week, displaying a message that says the festival information is being updated: "Please try back in 3 days. Thank you for your understanding."

The beleaguered country music festival was forced to move its concert to Fallowfield after the city cancelled a deal to let the festival be held at Walter Baker Park. The city said Hoedown organizers had failed to provide payment for the rental of the park at an agreed upon deadline.

A number of high-profile performers originally slated to play at the three-day festival have already pulled out, including Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire, Terri Clark and Sheryl Crow.

Country music fan Samantha Hartley said she spent $400 on two passes for the festival and now wants her money back.

"We believe it's false advertising," she said. "They promised us artists who aren't even coming anymore...we just don't feel it's worth going to a show where we paid our money but we aren't getting our value."

People who have called or emailed U.S.-based Front Gate Tickets asking for refunds have been told to provide order numbers and that refund cheques will be sent in the mail.

Ray Skaff, the media spokesman for Capital Hoedown, has also not responded to calls Tuesday. According to Skaff's online profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn, he stopped working for Concert International in May.

Capital Hoedown Statement