It's safe to say that people aren't happy. Concert goers are slamming Southampton's Palm Tree Music Festival for long lines and alcohol shortages. Norwegian house star Kygo hosted the festival this past Saturday.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The festival finally happened after permit delays led to a change of venues. Concert goers had to contend with crowded lines for shuttle buses from the Long Island Railroad to the festival grounds. This made people frustrated as they missed performers or almost missed their ride home.
@karienyc thousands of people (not drunk because they consistently ran out of alcohol or hid it until you tipped them cash), screaming cops and 10 school buses, missed 3/4 of the sets & 4+ hours of standing in line or waiting mostly bc they refused to provide an address so Ubers couldnt access the location?..WE WANT A REFUND ?#palmtreefestival #kygo #fyrefestival #fyrefest #musicfestivals #hamptons
Concert goers swarmed Southampton's Palm Tree Music Festival's Instagram page with nasty comments, until organizers finally turned off comments and deleted the bad ones. However, they returned a day later.
"This s-t was a disaster," one person wrote. "Takes 2 hours to get into a festival that was 10 min from drop off point. Drinks ran out at 630pm. Way home was a s-t show, people hopping the lines to bum rush shuttle. Security didn't give a s-t and were basically useless. Way in for Ubers and Lyfts was also a nightmare and taxis price gouging to take us home."
One attendee compared the whole situation to the doomed Fyre Festival. "I'm traumatized," said another user. "The amount of disrespect and pushing that happened to get on the bus. . . and then someone on the bus had a panic attack and was screaming out the window to the cops, 'HELP HELP ME ME!!! Let me outttt!' I legit have no words."
Southampton's Palm Tree Music Festival Draws Backlash
The lack of alcohol and water also drew plenty of complaints. They questioned how the Southampton's Palm Tree Music Festival could run out of both.
"We paid 600 bucks to walk a mile and a half, didn't have any alcohol, and no service to leave," one wrote. Another commented, "Y'all ran out of WATER."
In response to the backlash, a Southampton's Palm Tree Music Festival representative apologized in a statement.
"With new venues, come new challenges as we wanted to bring the festival to the heart of the Hamptons," a spokesperson for the fest said in a statement. "We are aware of the extended shuttle wait times for guests who did not purchase the onsite parking passes. We hold ourselves to a high standard and will take all the feedback to adjust our transportation plans for next year."
"Thank you to the 100+ state troopers, local law enforcement and state agencies who worked with us on this event to ensure everyone's safety," the statement continued. "We're also grateful to all our sponsors, the artists and Shinnecock Nation for welcoming us to your land. And most of all, thank you to the 10,000 festival guests who danced with us all night and in the rain. We're looking forward to returning in year 5 to give all our guests a great experience."
