Fact or fiction? Sound Haven responds to concerns over safety, water, and unpaid attendance [UPDATED]
Sound Haven has stirred up quite a few waves this weekend, July 28-August 2, as the Sacred Hive-run festival marks its third annual run. As any festival organizer will tell you, hosting a festival is about putting out fires at every turn; but that they do it for the love of the music community. The only certainty is that nothing will go smoothly, but these grassroots collaborative teams do everything in their power to curate a safe, immersive experience for attendees.
At the start of Ternion Sound‘s set last night, things really hit the fan when the crowd witnessed footage of an adult male sneaking his way onto the main stage, climbing the main stage scaffolding, and swinging from the top rafters like monkey bars, all before security could react. The man then fell and landed on the ground in front of patrons. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but reports confirmed the man was under the influence. The on-staff trained first-responders were able to transport him to a nearby hospital. His injuries from the fall included a shattered leg.
Of course, the angry Twitter mob was in a real-time uproar over the potentially fatal situation, despite these online lurkers not actually being on-the-ground to experience what went down live and in-person. Some are making demands of Sacred Hive, while other condemn the production company.
Ternion Sound even expressed their disappointment for how the event effected the energy of their set.
The festival organizers immediately responded to the situation and here’s what’s actually being done to address patron concerns over the incident (and more)…
Water
Water is life, and very much the foundation of wellbeing for festival patrons and artists alike. For the water stations, Sound Haven brought on FloWater, the same company that provided water at Bassnectar NYE360 in Lousville. Due to the increased size and scale of unticketed attendees, the increased capacity of new patrons overloaded the water systems and FloWater was unable to keep up with the volume needed to accommodate thirsty attendees. Despite their best efforts, the bars kept water stocked and Sound Haven has ordered pallets of bottled water cases to keep up with the demand.
Parking / Attendance
This year proved to be particularly challenging for the parking and security staff at Sound Haven due to an overwhelming estimated 3,015 attendees. With one single point of entry and several hundred cars, is easy to imagine the wait times got pretty long, with some attendees reporting staying in a car for several hours before getting in. Some patrons became upset and impatient. What they didn’t realize, however, was how hundreds of patrons showed up with fake tickets or duplicated barcodes, driving up the attendance. Although it’s impossible to really gauge these precise numbers, the festival staff estimated several hundreds at minimum, perhaps up to 1,500 extra attendees.
“We didn’t expect such a rush the first day like we did,” Jered Ardry, owner of Sound Haven, explains. “So we understand how frustrating it must be to come from all across the country only to be met with a long waiting line. Now that most of our patrons have made their way in, we expect minimal wait times and have increased staff to facilitate entry of our venue”
Any large turnout brings in just as many reasons to celebrate and equally just as many reasons to be concerned. A full statement from Sound Haven is expected soon regarding the specific changes. This story is still developing.
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