It was not the best weekend for American festivals. As tens of thousands of Burning Man attendees found themselves stranded in a Nevada desert due to flooding, on the other side of the country New York City’s Electric Zoo was plagued with logistical nightmares.
The electronic music festival was forced to cancel its Friday programming after failing to complete construction of its main stage. In the statement shared just hours before the event was set to get underway, organizers blamed “global supply chain disruptions” that “prevented us from completing the construction of the main stage in time for Day 1.”
The disruptions continued on Saturday, as Electric Zoo delayed the opening of its gates by two hours. Some attendees reported that they waited in line for upwards of four hours before finally gaining entry.
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But things really came to a head on Sunday when organizers announced that the festival had “reached capacity earlier than anticipated.” Ticket-holders who weren’t already on the grounds prior to 6:30 p.m. local time were denied entry into the event. “We deeply apologize for this inconvenience and hope you understand that this decision was made with everyone’s best interest in mind,” said organizers, who attributed the capacity issues as “due to the challenges caused by Friday cancelation.”
While Electric Zoo promised a full refund, the announcement did not sit well with some ticket-holders, who proceeded to storm the festival’s gates. Social media footage captured people jumping over barricades and running past police officers as they made their way into the festival grounds.
Consequence has reached out to Electric Zoo organizers for more information.
🔴 Le fiasco continue à l’Electric Zoo
Après l’annulation du vendredi, le orgas ont annoncé ce dimanche dans l’après-midi que le festival était full et ne pouvait plus accueillir personne. La goutte d’eau pour les festivaliers qui ont forcé les portes 😳 pic.twitter.com/yj58yXVtgg
Advertisement— Guettapen (@Guettapen) September 4, 2023
I was afraid this was going to happen. Hundreds of people rush the gates at Electric Zoo after being denied entrance due to the festival reaching its capacity limit 🤕pic.twitter.com/oEGj0NvvWJ
— GDE (@GlobalDanceGDE) September 4, 2023
Doors opened 5 hours ago and this is the entrance at #electriczoo #ezoo pic.twitter.com/l3QjtgFDTb
— DREAM // Layne ↑% (@lshirley30) September 3, 2023
