The 2022 Bonnaroo Music Festival featured some major changes to the venue, and attendees were concerned to say the least. The festival is in its 19th year at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, but the layout of the festival grounds have been altered. The area for camping has been significantly shrunken, and one of the main entrances has been closed.
Bonnaroo organizers posted a map of the festival grounds which shows the new, reduced layout of the camping area, while the legend shows several of the areas that were used for camping in previous years. It’s unclear why these cuts were made, but a report by The Tennessean speculates that it may be a result of lower ticket sales. However, those reduced sales didn’t help the line move more smoothly at this year’s single entrance to the festival. Fans complained that they waited for over an hour in this line in direct sunlight with no access to water or medical treatment.
Videos by PopCulture.com
This is Bonnaroo’s first festival after a two-year hiatus – it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then again in 2021 due to Hurricane Ida. Still, festival fans have long memories and they are perplexed by the changes made this year. Many took to Twitter, Instagram and Reddit to air their grievances with the new setup.
Bonnaroo wraps up its 2022 festival on Sunday night, so many of these complaints will not be addressed until next year. Here’s a look at how the backlash and the conversation played out.
Another Entrance
Users shared videos, pictures and stories from The Arch – the only entrance to the festival grounds this year. They felt that many of the problems could have been easily solved if the usual second entrance was opened.
Reasoning
Attendees speculated about why some of these cuts had been made. Many attributed it to Live Nation, the company behind the festival, while some also speculated about a lack of volunteers, difficulty in staffing security and more unconfirmed reasons.
Mitigation
The official Bonnaroo Instagram account posted a suggestion for fans to beat the long lines by spreading out their arrivals. This drew immediate backlash – the top commenter wrote: “The best time to delete this was immediately after sending it, the second best time is now.”
Danger
Many fans were caught off guard by the clear and present danger presented by this scenario.
AstroWorld
Naturally, dangerous situations at a music festival put fans in mind of the AstroWorld tragedy in the fall.
Compensate
Bonnaroo organizers tried to compensate for the long walks with shuttle services and maps, but some attendees reported that these were difficult to use.
Camping
Finally, as the festival wore on campers were concerned about camping in the extreme heat night after night. Many wondered if the festival could plan around weather better in summers to come.
Related Posts
-
CBS WKND ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
