Bonnaroo Fans Suffer as Heat Wave and Crowding Causes “Trampling and Fainting” During Tennessee Festival

Did Bonnaroo cut corners on its festival return at the expense of the fans? 

Festivals are in full swing and Bonnaroo just wrapped its 18^th edition of the four-day event in Manchester, TN. The farm hosted a variety of talents with performances from major headliners like Flume, Stevie Nicks, J. Cole, Tool, 21 Savage, Illenium, and more.

Last year Bonnaroo faced issues with Hurricane Ida that flooded the campgrounds and was deemed unsafe for attendees just days before the start. However, this year the festival faced different logistical issues when it consolidated GA entrances for the first time. Organizers eliminated the Tower gate which forced all GA attendees to go through the arch to get in and out of Centeroo.

The impact of this decision led to reports of 3+ hour-long lines, unsafe conditions, and heat exhaustion. @festivalowl shared day 1 footage of the mile-long line leading up to the arch to enter.

The account captions, “The new Bonnaroo single entrance experiment is off to a (predictability) terrible start on day one… Very long lines, no shade, scorching heat, little order whatsoever. Only night one, and security has all but given up on most checks simply due to being overwhelmed.”

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A post shared by The Festive Owl — Official 🦉 (@festiveowl)

Though some people claimed there was better organization and shorter wait times towards the end of the festival, day 1 was unanimously the roughest. People mentioned incidents of trampling and fainting because of excessive lines in combination with the scorching heat.

Here are some first-hand testimonies from this year’s festivalgoers at Bonnaroo.

@therealroobus “Can confirm it is a disaster. Just about everything else about Roo is great this year, but this was a horrific idea that has gone terribly. We saw multiple people pass out and get trampled. Once they are in that mass of humanity there is no way for them to get medical attention or water. It took us 40 minutes to get from the arch to the gate.”

@crsphoto8 “Lines are far longer than years when it was sold out… some of the security lines weren’t event lines, just masses of people moving forward like they are rushing the rail.”

@jpizzle40 “This was borderline dangerous. It’s like LiveNation learned nothing from Astroworld.”

@vivalalauryn “You can tell where they’ve cut corners in multiple different areas of the festival. Couldn’t locate a medical person for an active seizure at Where in the Woods & found no medics present in hot spots like The Other, bathrooms in camps are lacking attention, no hand sanitizer or soap, not enough bathrooms & no water… disappointing from what I’ve experienced at previous Roos.”

Bonnaroo Campground

With LiveNation’s acquisition of Bonnaroo, there is speculation that the decision to cut down to one entrance was a financial one. People believe this is a direct reflection of the festival attendance since Bonnaroo was not sold out.

After being canceled for two years in a row, Bonnaroo made its best effort to keep the magic alive with its return this year. After experiencing some rough patches, there is room for improvement to make the experience safer and enjoyable for fans in the future. 

Jaci Soukhathivong

An Atlanta gal chasing her love for electronic dance music. I’ve been with Exron since 2018 and have the privilege of contributing to the culture alongside other badass women whom I now call my friends. My introduction to the scene was first influenced by trap music, but my discography has since expanded to touch a bit of everything. Some of my favorite artists are Zeds Dead, Cloonee, Nghtmre, Flume, Infekt, Sosa, Bleu Clair, Subtronics, but the list goes on forever.

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