Did they forget to tell you that it wasn't canceled due to weather. 150 staff members walked out due to poor conditions. They weren't being fed or given water. That's why everything was a mess. Slipknot (one of the bands) called in a caterer to feed the bands and crew members since the festival failed to even give the talent anything.
Thank you, please keep covering this one as it unfolds. I traveled from Massachusetts and used all our vacation money for the whole year in this. It's been so heartbreaking and we deserve the truth.
Me too. My girl and my two boys. 14 hour drive. Lost pretty much everything due to the storm. Slept in our truck and kept hope until we were pushed out. The bathrooms were outrageously disgusting and never any usable hand washing sites and water refill stations. Two deaths and sooo many people dropping in front of us due to heat exhaustion. Worst experience I’ve ever had. We saw four bands total.
I traveled down from Rhode Island and didn’t even get to see a single band. So heartbreaking. It was my first festival and I’m trying to not let it ruin other festival opportunities for me.
I was there and have footage of everything. I was stuck in the mud and you just showed my tent. I didn't get to see any bands and lost thousands in camping gear. 1 hydration station for over 50,000 people. I better get my money back or ill see that man in court!!!! We saw spoil many people taken out on stretchers it scared my 13 year old daughter. This was our first music festival and I cried more than anything. SHAME ON THEM!!!
Let's not forget the shuttle cost. We took the bus 2 times once on way there then the 5 hour wait on Thursday night for the shuttle to go 8 mins away. We went again Friday. Got put on a back road for 3 hrs told we couldn't leave road or we get arrested. Finally saw some bands (avoided shuttle (that we Paid for) because there wasn't enough parking at either field.
Drove from Florida and got to the camping line at 830pm Wednesday. We sat in a car line all night and didn't get to our campsite until 730am Thursday. Only to be hit by the hail storm Thursday night and left with a flooded tent and campsite. My son and I had to sleep in our car. We got a hotel Friday and had to spend $80 on shuttle passes only to be left sitting in the parking lot for 4+ hours waiting to go to the event. They told us shuttle wasn't running due to "weather" yet just 2-3 miles away at the event all shows were still playing with zero interruption.
The weather was not the issue. That was the excuse they had to come up with because they planned poorly and didn’t take care of their people working the festival leading to a majority of them walking out.
I don’t understand how they justify trying to sell 2024 tickets when they’re still processing 2021 refunds. I don’t bet on ever seeing that money again
I was there and it was not the weather that canceled the last 2 days, there was no rain in the forecast at all, and those days were sunny with no rain or lightening. Slye should be held accountable, he can't even give us a statement, and has gone into hiding again same as 2021. It's now Thursday evening, and there is still no word on refunds.
It wasn't the weather it was the poor planning, evacuation plan to nowhere to stand in the hail , they would not let you walk to your car if you wanted to. General safety , no trash pickup and I could go on and on......
2021 was just as bad. They are just taking everyones money however they can. We paid for interior camping in 2021 and got parked 3 miles away from the venue and were told to walk or wait for the non existing shuttles. Sad to see the same thing happening again but worse.
Most of us spent 8-12 hours just sitting in line Wednesday. This was only less than 3 miles from the festival. Outside the little town of Alton. One of the security guards 5 hrs in ushered us into a large grass field with a 100 plus other vehicles. This was being used as a staging area to not further back up the already congested traffic. My gf asked what the bathroom situation was figuring since we were less then a mile maybe something was available. He simply pointed to the poison oak invested woods and said sorry.
Most are amazing and run like a well-oiled machine. Thjs was a disaster stemming from total neglect for people's health & welfare. Staff seemed to not have had proper training and I never once saw anyone working in the crowd areas with a walkie talkie. They were relying on the very spotty cell service available or each other. Bad or no information was rampant. The list goes on. This is NOT how well-run festivals operate!!
It’s a scam. The organizers don’t care because they sell tickets so far in advance they make money from the interest and investments. Next year (2024) tickets are already for sale. It’s sep 2023. That’s an entire year to draw interest and invest millions of dollars. So even if they refund every ticket they still make their money.
I was camping there, it was an absolute terrible experience and the staff said with their own mouths to us that they were overworked and not paid enough. Terrible conditions and these people running this sh*t show actually have the audacity to blame the weather with so many employees coming out with the truth.
I was there and this was my experience. Me and my friends arrived in an RV so we could get that extra day of music to listen to. We arrived a little before 7:00 p.m. and waited 14 hours until they finally told us where we were to park on the campground. Needless to say we missed that whole day's worth of music. On Thursday due to rain we lost the chance to see the last four bands for the night. Friday the weather was fine so we actually got to see everything. Saturday was canceled again due to rain and on that same day they just decided to cancel the whole festival. I doubt they will ever admit this but the reason why they canceled sunday's shows were because between $150 and 200 stage hands quit due to unsanitary living arrangements, on work treatment and overall dysfunction by the festival arrangers. The issues I ran into other than having to wait to find our campground was they promised water and there were only eight spickets which ran out quickly. The evacuation because of the rain was managed horribly. I spent over $1,000 on this so-called 5-day festival in because they are going to base the cancellation on weather there is little to no chance I will get refunded. I will never ever go to a Festival that Blue Ridge is putting on
unfortunately weather cancelling shows wont get you a refund anywhere. but everything else is complete horseshit. cant be allowed to happen again. i considered getting tickets and im from canada. i would have stormed the capital if i had this experience from that distance lol.
@@baron6984 here's my issue technically it wasn't the weather that canceled the rest of the festival it was the fact that almost 200 workers walked out meaning if this comes to surface and they finally admit it they might actually have to issue refunds
We drove 40 hours from western Colorado... paid $4500+ for Rockstar vip passes for the second year in a row. Last year was nice, this year it looked like they pulled the "air conditioned" bathrooms out of a junk yard... the staff quit it was not cancelled due to rain. The weather was fine. They over sold and understaffed. The crews went in strike and quit due to not having enough food, water, sanitation for personal hygiene or even places to sleep. It was a disaster. The bands were treated poorly. Crew and campers alike were injured due to lack of organization. No one there had anything planned. The producers of blue ridge Rock festival took they're millions and ran from there not second but third absolute catastrophe of a festival. And give pr directed excuses to try and cover up they're mistakes
My son and his fiancé were there. They said someone died while waiting in line for hours and hours. My son also said someone was kidnapped. My son and his fiancé also had to go to the medical tent and the ambulance twice for heat exhaustion.
I only drove out 4 hours to get there but suffered an 8hour wait to get into the venue, i ended up suffering from heat exhaustion and A heat stroke about four hours into wait in 98 degree weather and being 103 degrees in my car at the time
I heard this was an absolute nightmare all due to poor planning by the event organizer. 6 stages, with maybe a dozen or so stage hands, bands had to park over a mile away with their gear, only 1 forklift to load and unload equipment, a flatbed truck that had no straps hauling equipment, where people got injured to the point of needing an ambulance, lack of water... it does sound like most everyone who was working for the festival didn't have a clue what was going on at nothing was communicated but they did a phenomenal job being severely understaffed but eventually people walked out because of the conditions... Lack of food and water being one of them... pretty sure they claimed "bad weather" because their refund policy probably states in the event if bad weather refunds will not be given... smells like a lawsuit... 🤷
Tickets were $150-2,000 depending on if they got a single pass or VIP/Rockstar VIP 4 day pass And all of the hotels, shuttles and campgrounds were also a disgustingly high price
Why don't the bands that were supposed to play that day on horrible weather, play for free? They already took everyone's money. Might as well do a free show. Security can let anyone in whom have tickets of that specific date that they cancelled.
However bad you might presently feel about yourself, take solace that you're not one of those people purchasing tickets for Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2024 right now.
I was there and I loved every minute of it.... I mean you got to take the good with the bad you got to come prepared for anyting..... Next year you guys out to be a part of the experience the whole time and that would be some ultimate coverage right there
You people act like your Soo pissed and mad just because I had a good time...wtf..?I mean on and on and on....hey...I'm sorry you didn't have a killer weekend....all the crowd shots on the bands that played everyone looks like they are enjoying the show...man...it took all my money to get a band I had 1$ and a 12 pack of coke and no drugs or alcohol and was happy...I took a shower when I got back ate and rested...sorry you guys HATED...Haters
Not every stagehand expects to be treated like a slave. If you work for such companies, and expect it, we know why you were "Prepared" to be screwed out of money and time. Sadly, the old guard like you are always claiming that preparedness is key as they completely ignore the Responsibilities of the Promoters to provide for the crew as Promised in a contract.
Did they forget to tell you that it wasn't canceled due to weather. 150 staff members walked out due to poor conditions. They weren't being fed or given water. That's why everything was a mess. Slipknot (one of the bands) called in a caterer to feed the bands and crew members since the festival failed to even give the talent anything.
Thank you for the coverage! It was a horrible experience and I am hoping the coverage helps all of us impacted.
Couldn't Have Be Any Worse Than Woodstock 1999.
Thank you, please keep covering this one as it unfolds. I traveled from Massachusetts and used all our vacation money for the whole year in this. It's been so heartbreaking and we deserve the truth.
Traveled down from ny with my girlfriend and two friends and it was the worst experience I've had
Me too. My girl and my two boys. 14 hour drive. Lost pretty much everything due to the storm. Slept in our truck and kept hope until we were pushed out. The bathrooms were outrageously disgusting and never any usable hand washing sites and water refill stations. Two deaths and sooo many people dropping in front of us due to heat exhaustion. Worst experience I’ve ever had. We saw four bands total.
I traveled down from Rhode Island and didn’t even get to see a single band. So heartbreaking. It was my first festival and I’m trying to not let it ruin other festival opportunities for me.
We traveled from Florida... it was a worse experience ...after Rockville 2023, BRRF 23 was disgusting
I was there and have footage of everything. I was stuck in the mud and you just showed my tent. I didn't get to see any bands and lost thousands in camping gear. 1 hydration station for over 50,000 people. I better get my money back or ill see that man in court!!!! We saw spoil many people taken out on stretchers it scared my 13 year old daughter. This was our first music festival and I cried more than anything. SHAME ON THEM!!!
Never Forget The Horrors Of
Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2023 !!!
Let's not forget the shuttle cost. We took the bus 2 times once on way there then the 5 hour wait on Thursday night for the shuttle to go 8 mins away. We went again Friday. Got put on a back road for 3 hrs told we couldn't leave road or we get arrested. Finally saw some bands (avoided shuttle (that we Paid for) because there wasn't enough parking at either field.
Drove from Florida and got to the camping line at 830pm Wednesday. We sat in a car line all night and didn't get to our campsite until 730am Thursday. Only to be hit by the hail storm Thursday night and left with a flooded tent and campsite. My son and I had to sleep in our car. We got a hotel Friday and had to spend $80 on shuttle passes only to be left sitting in the parking lot for 4+ hours waiting to go to the event. They told us shuttle wasn't running due to "weather" yet just 2-3 miles away at the event all shows were still playing with zero interruption.
The weather was not the issue. That was the excuse they had to come up with because they planned poorly and didn’t take care of their people working the festival leading to a majority of them walking out.
Criminal is what happened here
I don’t understand how they justify trying to sell 2024 tickets when they’re still processing 2021 refunds. I don’t bet on ever seeing that money again
I was there and it was not the weather that canceled the last 2 days, there was no rain in the forecast at all, and those days were sunny with no rain or lightening. Slye should be held accountable, he can't even give us a statement, and has gone into hiding again same as 2021. It's now Thursday evening, and there is still no word on refunds.
It wasn't the weather it was the poor planning, evacuation plan to nowhere to stand in the hail , they would not let you walk to your car if you wanted to.
General safety , no trash pickup and I could go on and on......
2021 was just as bad. They are just taking everyones money however they can. We paid for interior camping in 2021 and got parked 3 miles away from the venue and were told to walk or wait for the non existing shuttles. Sad to see the same thing happening again but worse.
Most of us spent 8-12 hours just sitting in line Wednesday. This was only less than 3 miles from the festival. Outside the little town of Alton. One of the security guards 5 hrs in ushered us into a large grass field with a 100 plus other vehicles. This was being used as a staging area to not further back up the already congested traffic. My gf asked what the bathroom situation was figuring since we were less then a mile maybe something was available. He simply pointed to the poison oak invested woods and said sorry.
Wow man i cqnt believe it was loke that. Theu really could have prevented it
I arrived with some friends on Wednesday as well but we got held up for 14 hours
Thank you for your coverage. I feel like I was scammed.
As an attendee looking for answers, thank you for covering this.
They told us on Thursday that we were getting a refund for Thursday and then they deleted it, and said they were working on it.
Stop these unsanitary rock festivals.
Most are amazing and run like a well-oiled machine. Thjs was a disaster stemming from total neglect for people's health & welfare. Staff seemed to not have had proper training and I never once saw anyone working in the crowd areas with a walkie talkie. They were relying on the very spotty cell service available or each other. Bad or no information was rampant. The list goes on. This is NOT how well-run festivals operate!!
Other festivals have no issue. This was poorly managed and poorly run.
It’s a scam. The organizers don’t care because they sell tickets so far in advance they make money from the interest and investments. Next year (2024) tickets are already for sale. It’s sep 2023. That’s an entire year to draw interest and invest millions of dollars. So even if they refund every ticket they still make their money.
I was camping there, it was an absolute terrible experience and the staff said with their own mouths to us that they were overworked and not paid enough. Terrible conditions and these people running this sh*t show actually have the audacity to blame the weather with so many employees coming out with the truth.
I was there and this was my experience. Me and my friends arrived in an RV so we could get that extra day of music to listen to. We arrived a little before 7:00 p.m. and waited 14 hours until they finally told us where we were to park on the campground. Needless to say we missed that whole day's worth of music. On Thursday due to rain we lost the chance to see the last four bands for the night. Friday the weather was fine so we actually got to see everything. Saturday was canceled again due to rain and on that same day they just decided to cancel the whole festival. I doubt they will ever admit this but the reason why they canceled sunday's shows were because between $150 and 200 stage hands quit due to unsanitary living arrangements, on work treatment and overall dysfunction by the festival arrangers. The issues I ran into other than having to wait to find our campground was they promised water and there were only eight spickets which ran out quickly. The evacuation because of the rain was managed horribly. I spent over $1,000 on this so-called 5-day festival in because they are going to base the cancellation on weather there is little to no chance I will get refunded. I will never ever go to a Festival that Blue Ridge is putting on
unfortunately weather cancelling shows wont get you a refund anywhere.
but everything else is complete horseshit. cant be allowed to happen again. i considered getting tickets and im from canada. i would have stormed the capital if i had this experience from that distance lol.
@@baron6984 here's my issue technically it wasn't the weather that canceled the rest of the festival it was the fact that almost 200 workers walked out meaning if this comes to surface and they finally admit it they might actually have to issue refunds
@@baron6984 That's why Sunday got canceled on Saturday about 200 workers walked out
@@Fragle81 so did it actually rain Saturday night or not? Like was it bad enough to cancel the show? I wasn’t there lol
We drove 40 hours from western Colorado... paid $4500+ for Rockstar vip passes for the second year in a row. Last year was nice, this year it looked like they pulled the "air conditioned" bathrooms out of a junk yard... the staff quit it was not cancelled due to rain. The weather was fine. They over sold and understaffed. The crews went in strike and quit due to not having enough food, water, sanitation for personal hygiene or even places to sleep. It was a disaster. The bands were treated poorly. Crew and campers alike were injured due to lack of organization. No one there had anything planned. The producers of blue ridge Rock festival took they're millions and ran from there not second but third absolute catastrophe of a festival. And give pr directed excuses to try and cover up they're mistakes
I stopped going to this types of fests and sooo glad I did.
I just want my money back!! Thursday never should have been canceled!!!
13 hours sitting in cars waiting to get into the camping area. No staff. No state troopers. Unsafe and unacceptable! 🤬
I was there and i can assure you it wasn't weather that caused them to cancel!
My son and his fiancé were there. They said someone died while waiting in line for hours and hours. My son also said someone was kidnapped. My son and his fiancé also had to go to the medical tent and the ambulance twice for heat exhaustion.
Worst experience ever but us campers made the best party they need to fix this
I only drove out 4 hours to get there but suffered an 8hour wait to get into the venue, i ended up suffering from heat exhaustion and A heat stroke about four hours into wait in 98 degree weather and being 103 degrees in my car at the time
LOL Im a Stagehand.. It was NOT canceled due to weather.. It was canceled due to poor promotion company and terrible working conditions.
I heard this was an absolute nightmare all due to poor planning by the event organizer. 6 stages, with maybe a dozen or so stage hands, bands had to park over a mile away with their gear, only 1 forklift to load and unload equipment, a flatbed truck that had no straps hauling equipment, where people got injured to the point of needing an ambulance, lack of water... it does sound like most everyone who was working for the festival didn't have a clue what was going on at nothing was communicated but they did a phenomenal job being severely understaffed but eventually people walked out because of the conditions... Lack of food and water being one of them... pretty sure they claimed "bad weather" because their refund policy probably states in the event if bad weather refunds will not be given... smells like a lawsuit... 🤷
What happened was criminal. Jonathan Slye or whatever that trust fund baby’s name is needs to go to prison.
Those bastards owe us big time
Still no refunds. 🎉
We were literally turned away in 2021!
Let’s not forget they took their post down and edited out the part about a refund then reposted
Pay us back, I don't want a replacement ticket for next year
Over a month later hopefully y'all are still trying to get answers. We arent able to and still no refunds
you can plan a pretty picnic...but you can't predict the weather
No but you still bring the proper blanket, basket and sustenance to compete the attempt. The Promoters did not.
Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2024 tickets... AKA 2021 Refunds.
Blue Ridge is lucky it didn’t turn into a Woodstock 99
How much did people pay 🤣🤣🤣
Tickets were $150-2,000 depending on if they got a single pass or VIP/Rockstar VIP 4 day pass
And all of the hotels, shuttles and campgrounds were also a disgustingly high price
It was a disaster.
Why don't the bands that were supposed to play that day on horrible weather, play for free? They already took everyone's money. Might as well do a free show. Security can let anyone in whom have tickets of that specific date that they cancelled.
However bad you might presently feel about yourself, take solace that you're not one of those people purchasing tickets for Blue Ridge Rock Fest 2024 right now.
Boycott the festival altogether hit in the wallet maybe then they'll work to improve it
I was there and I loved every minute of it.... I mean you got to take the good with the bad you got to come prepared for anyting..... Next year you guys out to be a part of the experience the whole time and that would be some ultimate coverage right there
I don't think not being allowed in is taking the good with the bad 😶
This dude has to be a plant for brrf he's been all over telling what a wonderful time he had.
ua-cam.com/video/604iHUhK1Ac/v-deo.htmlsi=_705R7yNTPlliOBU
Obviously yo were not Working the show.
You people act like your Soo pissed and mad just because I had a good time...wtf..?I mean on and on and on....hey...I'm sorry you didn't have a killer weekend....all the crowd shots on the bands that played everyone looks like they are enjoying the show...man...it took all my money to get a band I had 1$ and a 12 pack of coke and no drugs or alcohol and was happy...I took a shower when I got back ate and rested...sorry you guys HATED...Haters
People who didn’t come prepared are complaining that the concert promoters weren’t prepared?
Not every stagehand expects to be treated like a slave. If you work for such companies, and expect it, we know why you were "Prepared" to be screwed out of money and time. Sadly, the old guard like you are always claiming that preparedness is key as they completely ignore the Responsibilities of the Promoters to provide for the crew as Promised in a contract.
Throw up a stage and collect the cash.
This was never about your entertainment it was about somebody making money
Again russian sleeping agents ...😅😅😅