Elements Music & Arts Festival is making headlines after inclement weather and various other issues challenged the experience, which some are calling a “logistical nightmare,” “disorganized,” and “unsafe” –comparable to Fyre Festival.
In its fourth year, the “rain or shine” event was set to take place over September 3 – 6 in the secluded area of Lakewood, Pennsylvania. However, storms caused by Hurricane Ida reportedly held up transportation methods and wait times into the campgrounds ran up to 16 hours.
A local source says Elements festival oversold tickets, resulting in an increase in attendance that was not properly planned for. Festive Owl also notes there were several “major issues” that stretched beyond the weather.
Campgrounds were overflowing, cars were stuck in the mud — and at one point, reportedly, no food or water was available on site. More accounts are detailed here via Elements Shit Show 2021, a public group on Facebook with 3.8K members.
According to buzz on social media, disgruntled attendees are planning a lawsuit against Elements Festival.
On the flip side, other festival goers say Elements’ production was on point and fun was had by many despite the festival’s downfalls. While coming and going from the event proved to be difficult, the music and people made for a memorable experience.
Read the conversation below.
Elements Festival — I stepped away for a few days after the insanity of last week, but coming back to some absolute horror stories this weekend including 16 hour waits to access camping that was full, cars completely stuck in mud from Ida's rains + much more.
See comments below. pic.twitter.com/jokD3MmTOk
— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) September 5, 2021
1:30pm got on the car line 4:30pm was hold hostage in this parking lot til we finally get in 11:30pm lol For my first festival I wasn’t expecting this at all #firefest #elementsfestival Saturday and Sunday was fun though they just need to get their shit together pic.twitter.com/Cx67RR5NLC
— Amanda De Lima (@amanditamay) September 6, 2021
In more EDM news, attendees are now planning a lawsuit against Elements Festival for waiting over 16+ hours to get into camping.
— Katie 🦋🔜 LL 🦖 (@bassbutterflyyy) September 4, 2021
There’s a minor Fyre situation happening at the Elements music festival in PA this weekend. Between poor logistics + damage from Ida + oversold tickets + covid issues…things are not going well.
— Alex Mizrahi (@alexmiz) September 4, 2021
Worst festival I've ever had the misfortune of spending money on
— LASER_RANDY (@1900LAWYERS) September 5, 2021
Most of the experiences you’ve read are not exaggerated at all. They sent hundreds of people in circles during ingress, waited in lines for 10+ hours, camping was bursting at the seams. The only good thing I can say was that production was fantastic lmfao
— nor. was banned 👹 (@grooovynor) September 5, 2021
The only reason elements festival wasn’t a complete fyre festival experience was because once you got in the line was almost worth it. The music activities and people were awesome. But getting in and leaving were nightmarish
— Saliana (@salianaaa) September 6, 2021
Elements Festival was a complete shit show logistically however the DJs threw down and brought the fuckin music 🔥
— KISH (@hausofkish) September 7, 2021
Source: WNEP | Photo via Elements Music & Arts Festival
