Thousands of Summerfest attendees added to the overcrowding conditions during the Imagine Dragons performance at the Miller stage.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 30, 2013
Milwaukee, WI - On Saturday, the Summerfest grounds reached overcapacity with overwhelming crowds during the Imagine Dragons gig that drew over 10,000 fans to the stage area. Officials had to stop selling tickets at the gates, then the crowds outside made their way inside Summerfest for free without getting checked, according Facebook users.
Festivalgoers reported the largest drunk crowds in Summerfest history. People had to wait between 1 1/2 to over two hours to buy an admittance ticket into Summerfest.
Others posted in Facebook, their first hand accounts of having difficulty moving from stage to stage, which some wrote they were stepped on, pushed, elbowed disrespectful drunks. While others pished their way to the front of the stages in order to move from the overcrowed areas.
After closing, the crowd movement was even more chaotic then expected, which people had to push their way out of Summerfest. Most festivalgoers who took a shuttle or bus to Summerfest had to wait between 30-45 minutes for them.
Summerfest 2013 will go down in history for the largest capacity crowds in one day. Officials at Summerfest haven't relased the attendance totals for Saturday yet.
Some festivalgoers also posted their accounts of what happened at Summerfest on the Today's TMJ 4 Facebook page. Sarah Olsen posted, "No one was carding for alcohol. Went at 6 and the miller oasis was already packed. Had to leave. Tons of drunk kids underage, no parental supervision. Kids under 18 shouldn't be let in without an adult. Left around 10pm, crowds outside gates were large and unruly, practically no security checks. I love summerfest but this was insane."
Kat Bubash posted, "Miller was horrific..some punk tried getting in a fight with me because I was "touching" him..ridiculous...ive never seen it that bad."
Lisa Girmschid posted, "Update: my teen is safe at home. Said she didn't have to pay to get in, because while she was standing in line they announced they weren't selling any more tickets. So the crowd just stormed the gates and everyone was allowed in for free. I asked my teen if she would have changed her mind about going if she knew it would be that bad. There was a very long pause before she responded....lol."
2 comments:
I have enjoyed Summerfest year after year, and last night may have been my last. I showed up to Imagine Dragons well before the massive crowd. A little after 10, people were pushing uncontrollably, and I knew the concert wasn't worth it.
My friend and I pushed our way out, purse stolen on the way, with credit card, ID, phone, car key, etc. We waited at the lost and found until the Summerfest grounds were about empty and went back to search for the purse. A Summerfest employee mentioned at that point, "I have been doing this for over 20 years, and I have never seen it this bad."
Wrigleyville last week (after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup) was nothing compared to the extreme crowd last night!
I arrived outside the gates at 10:30am and got in for free because I donated something to Goodwill(the promotion for that day). when the gates opened officially at exactly noon me and my four buddies bolted for the Miller Oasis Stage which is where the Imagine Dragons show was 10 hours from then. We were one of the first 100 people to get into Summerfest that day. Being from Milwaukee, I know that the later the day gets, the less you should move around. People don't understand that.
After about 7pm, you don't want to move around as there is a good chance you will have issues making it back to your "spot". Also, standing by the bar to watch the show is a terrible choice to make unless you enjoy being around drunk people.
I thought the concert was well worth the wait. They put on a great show and as far as musicallity goes, this is the best rock concert I've ever had the ability to attend.
Yes, after the concert was alot of chaos and body to body contact. This was nothing compared to the Godsmack concert I went to.
There are a lot of assumed risks when one attends the world's largest music festival. I came prepared and had a great time. The crowds were terrible, but me and my friends did expect this and we got on our shuttle home with a five minute wait.
Maybe we were blessed, or maybe the only ones complaining about that day are the people who had bad experiences.
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