Fyre Festival—the infamous 2017 event that resulted in organizer Billy McFarland going to prison for fraud—has gone down in history as one of the biggest cultural flubs ever.
That is, until traveling food and music festival Vegandale topped it last weekend, at least according to attendees. The Queens, New York, event brought out long lines, complete disarray, and shortages on essentials like water and toilet paper. And angry attendees have been documenting the fiasco online.
“People were getting miserable and very cranky,” one ticket-holder told The New York Post. “These four lines became just a massive crowd. There was just no one to help.”
Vegandale reportedly drew thousands of guests for the 200-vendor festival, but the limited metal detectors just couldn’t handle the crowd. The lines to secure tickets, which ranged in price from $15 for general admission to $90 for VIP, were just as lengthy, the outlet reports.
One person on Reddit added that there were only “two staff” members there to control the unruly crowd, which grew to “encompass the entire exterior of Citi Field.”
“Horrible event….charged $30 for parking (nothing mentioned on site about that) waited 2 hours in hot sun with no information or help from anyone and still wasn’t let in…1 security guard we saw was yelling and arguing with everyone….def suggest not wasting your time,” another disgruntled attendee wrote.
Some argued that the FBI should even investigate Vegandale organizers, while others said that even comparing it to Fyre Festival was “an insult” to Fyre Festival.
“Hands down the worst-run event I’ve ever seen,” one user wrote on Twitter.
The bathroom was reportedly out of water, as well, and while security handed out bottles to those still in line, they were gone in seconds.
While previous guests said that the Randalls Island Vegandale was a hit, others claim the recent Chicago stop was just as messy. The official Facebook page for the event even shut off comments.
Erica Muñoz, a vendor at the event who owns Pinche Vegana and has held a booth for years at the New York stop, said that organizers changed the fee structure recently to take a 30% commission on all sales versus just charging a flat fee. This ultimately cost her around $3,000, which was three times what she has previously paid, according to The New York Times.
The Times also reported that an attendee said “he and his wife arrived at 11:30 a.m. to find a sea of thousands of confused and dehydrated festivalgoers—and no signs of the event staff. ‘Some security did come out to offer water bottles, and those people just got attacked by the mob,’ he said.”
“We faced a few logistical challenges, which are part of working with a new venue,” Jenna Lindsay, Vegandale’s vice president of communications and entertainment, said in a statement. “It was our first year at Citi Field, but the overall experience was really positive.”
Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.
