Electric Zoo attendees frustrated by chaos at disorganized three-day festival

Electric Zoo, the electronic music festival spanning three days on Randall’s Island in New York over the Labor Day weekend, encountered a series of production and capacity problems, leaving attendees dissatisfied.

The festival, now under new management since last year, faced a challenging start by canceling its first day, Friday, due to a delay in completing the construction of the main stage. The festival eventually opened on Saturday, but festivalgoers reported excruciatingly long wait times just to enter the venue. On Sunday, organizers began turning away ticket holders, citing venue capacity issues.

In an Instagram post, Electric Zoo organizers acknowledged the unprecedented challenges they faced, attributing them to global supply chain disruptions. They assured those with tickets for Friday’s entry of full refunds and three-day pass holders of partial credits for the lost day.

When the festival commenced on the second day, attendees reported further delays and extended waits at will call, with some waiting up to five hours to collect their tickets. Marissa Kelland, a three-day pass holder, arrived at the will call line at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and didn’t receive her ticket until 10:15 p.m., missing a significant portion of the music performances.

Issues also arose with the festival’s stages, as some attendees noted incomplete sets, broken screens, and sound problems. Despite these challenges, some still managed to have fun at the event.

The primary concern expressed by attendees was the apparent understaffing of the festival. Many criticized the festival’s owner, Avant Gardner, a live music entertainment company, for inadequate organization, particularly in terms of will call booth workers and security personnel.

Representatives for Electric Zoo and Avant Gardner did not provide immediate responses to requests for comment.

Erin Donahue, another attendee, mentioned unusually long wait times to enter the festival and expressed concern about the event’s management, despite Avant Gardner’s supposed experience in event planning. She noted that staff and security seemed overwhelmed.

On Sunday, organizers had to close the gates after reaching venue capacity earlier than expected, leading to frustration among festivalgoers. Some videos posted on social media even showed attendees rushing the gates after the announcement.

As of the reporting, some attendees had not received refunds for the canceled Friday, leaving them dissatisfied with their festival experience. Many expressed doubts about attending Electric Zoo again unless it came under different management. They emphasized that while minor inconveniences are common at music festivals, the extent of the issues faced at this event was exceptional.