The weekend of Sept. 26 saw an unfortunate chain of events that led to TomorrowWorld leaving thousands of people stranded for hours. Of the 160,000 people that attended the venue, only 40,000 camped. That left 120,000 people to walk after a day of drinking and partying. Dehydration and exhaustion were real issues faced by the attendees of TomorrowWorld.
On opening day Friday, Sept. 25, TomorrowWorld informed its guests that on-site parking would only be available to those camping in DreamVille. All other guests were required to park or be dropped off at certain drop zones. These zones, referred to as Kiss and Rides, were going to have shuttle buses running constantly to ensure people could get to and from the festival.
For Rosalie Azzato, a recent graduate of KSU with a degree in communication, this was her second time at TomorrowWorld.
“Last year was an absolutely blast, so of course we wanted to return! I actually promoted the event, so our tickets were free,” Azzato said. She went on to explain that even though her tickets included DreamVille, her group spent the money they would have spent on tickets on a hotel instead. “Honestly, we wanted the showers and the bed. Friday actually went pretty smoothly. I think we waited about an hour and a half in line for the shuttles.”
Garrett Barbaree’s experience Friday was a little more frustrating. Garrett, a junior finance major, had to wait a few hours in traffic just to get to off-site parking. Instead of waiting for the shuttles, he and his friends decided to walk the two miles to the venue.
Both Rosalie and Garrett returned to the festival Saturday, but while Garrett ended up at DreamVille that night, Rosalie was swept up in the chaos. “At the end of Saturday, there was only one solid path. The congestion slowed everyone down.” When she left the venue and got closer to the shuttles, it became apparent there was no order. They decided to walk instead. “It was a paved road, so it wasn’t like we were swimming through the mud. One of my friends is on the heavier side, though, and it was difficult for him to walk after a day full of drinking and walking.” Eventually they ended up at the off-site parking and were informed busses had been stopped from running. “We didn’t park there, we took a taxi. No one had cell service so we couldn’t call for uber or a taxi. The only option we had was to keep walking. We found an uber finally and got to the hotel around seven.”
While she was prepared for the weather with rain gear, she wasn’t prepared for the lack of preparation. “What bothered me the most was that I felt like they didn’t care. They just abandoned everyone to figure it out for themselves. The feeling of being stranded with no cell service surrounded by thousands of strangers isn’t a good one.”
Emily Pruitt had the same issue. A junior English major, Emily says she’ll never go back. “They just didn’t care. On top of that, people were taking advantage of the situation.” Taxis jacked their rates up once the desperation began to sink in. Uber drivers were turning off their uber and taking cash instead. “People just wanted to go home. When we finally got cell service, over seven miles in, it still took two hours for our ride to get to us with people knocking on his windows, stopping him and offering whatever cash they had for a ride.”
Emily saw a few other things worse than greedy drivers. “At one point, I saw this foreign girl sitting on the ground just rocking back and forth and crying. She couldn’t speak English and was by herself. I saw this super creepy dude walk up to her and begin rubbing her and getting in her space while she kept saying no. I walked over and yelled at him until he left her alone. It was absurd.”
The following day, those who weren’t camped inside DreamVille were turned away from the venue. Garrett found out after he left DreamVille he wouldn’t be allowed back in. TommorrowWorld did issue a formal apology shortly after, but for such a prominent and large venue, better things could have been afforded to avoid these experiences. Hopefully after damage control and a properly trained staff, this festival can return to its former glory.
