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Tens of thousands of people were in Miami for a gigantic music festival this weekend, but things did not go as planned when it was necessary to bring in passengers from the island where he was traveling. standing.
170,000 people were expected at the annual Ultra Music Festival, but when the first day of the three-day festival ended Friday night, thousands of people seemed to have been stranded and forced to walk four miles highway to return to downtown. area on the mainland.
Things were so bad at one point that many people described the weekend's concert as "Fyre Festival 2" – a reference to the failed luxury music festival that was to take place in the Bahamas in 2017 and which saw thousands of people scammed.
The video footage also captured what appeared to be a tree on fire during the event, probably caused by an unauthorized firework.
Thousands of tired and angry spectators who paid € 400 a ticket waited for hours before getting on a bus before walking for miles along a bridge at 2am.
Thousands of other people have abandoned the shuttle plan and have crossed the Rickenbacker Causeway, traveling nearly six kilometers from downtown Miami from Virgina Key and the Ultra Music Festival.
In this case, there was nothing wrong with the performers or the concert itself, except the transport to and from the hall.
The Ultra Festival staff had recommended festival goers to take the Metrorail and the Metromover as the ideal mode of transportation – but when it came to shuttles, there was only chaos.
A logistical collapse seemed to occur at the end of the night, forcing tens of thousands of spectators to wait for hours for shuttles off the island of Virginia Key and four miles to reach downtown Miami. along the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The frustration quickly reached the boiling point among the spectators who had each paid about $ 400 for a ticket to attend the huge electronic music festival, while 50,000 people all tried to leave at the same time. time after the last performance of the evening at 2 o'clock in the morning, according to the Miami Herald newspaper.
The lines seemed endless, buses could only hold 55 people at a time.
The organizers had apparently put up more than 200 buses for people to get to the city center, but that only supported around 11,000 visitors – and the patience was short-lived.
Many festival goers refused to queue for buses after a night spent drinking
At one point, a tree is lit after the embers of a fireworks have landed on a palm tree
Aside from the total chaos caused by the large number of people leaving at the same time, people also refused to align properly with festival staff who seemed to know nothing about the location. bus collection points.
The musical event lasted three days on Virginia Key, a small island south of Miami Beach, connected to the shore by a long two-lane bridge on which many decided to walk to their homes, hotels and inns.
"It was my first year in the Ultra," wrote a Twitter user named Kailey in an online statement. "It was easy to get there and the festival itself was not bad, but letting it down was terrifying and we will not be here the next few days."
A number of festival goers compared the pandemonium to the infamous 2017 Fyre Festival
Twitter users captured the extraordinary scene as spectators were forced to travel for miles to leave because of the lack of buses.
"As the disorder escalated, people started trying to walk back, but many were stopped by the police and forced to wait for the shuttle. "So we're just waiting for a shuttle," says Kailey in his statement.
"Almost an hour and a half later, people started screaming that it was useless to wait an hour because it would take until four o'clock … They closed all shuttles because people were angry at the confusion of mass. Hit the buses to let people in. We probably watched 20 buses passing us in front of absolutely nobody. It was a direct chaos.
"Yesterday evening, many of you have experienced difficult transport conditions after leaving the festival. This is unacceptable and incompatible with the high standards you expect from us. For that, we are sorry, wrote the organizers Saturday afternoon.
"As you can imagine, we are already working with our partners in cities and counties to resolve and resolve these issues quickly. We look forward to providing you with a significantly improved transportation experience today and throughout the weekend, and we appreciate the opportunity to regain your trust.
The organizers then wrote again to say that they "were working hard to ensure a pleasant transportation experience," including "extra resources" for "enhanced training for ALL employees and transportation volunteers".
"The changes to the transportation plan are being implemented today," Ken Russell, Miami Commissioner, said in a statement. "I hope the plan will be much improved and that the city will not have more disruptions than that experienced yesterday and early this morning."
Frustration gave way to anger and thousands of people eventually walked to downtown Miami – a six-kilometer trek along a two-lane bridge
Juan Perez, director of the Miami-Dade Police, said the festival had not anticipated that so many people would leave before midnight.
"Customers crowded at 11 o'clock," says Perez. "The buses were not ready for that. Customers did not want to wait for buses and walked instead. New plan for today.
Stephanie Bromfield, Ultra's media relations coordinator, said the rest of the weekend would run better as officials develop a better strategy to keep people off the island.
"Everyone came out at two o'clock in the morning," she said. "I think they're trying to figure out how to filter this.
She said the festival organizers would learn from the chaos of the first day and make Saturday night a better experience for concertgoers seeking up to $ 400 for three-day passes.
"The transport people, they did not seem to have been trained," she said. "I think they're trying to understand all that.
She added, "It was the first night we never had anything at this place. We knew that there would be problems with the buses. Especially with people who drink, who will wait for a bus?
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