There were thousands of unhappy Stagecoach festivalgoers on Saturday night, as the approximately 75,000-80,000 guests were forced to evacuate due to high winds.
At 7:46 p.m., the Stagecoach app shared an update: “Due to severe weather, please exit the event site and move to your vehicles or protected areas outside of the event site for safety. Stay tuned for updates.”
At the time, Marshmello was 15 minutes into his DJ set at the Honkeytonk tent. The lights were turned on, and an announcement came over the speaker to immediately exit. Meanwhile, the crowd outside the T-Mobile Mane Stage, waiting for Journey to come on, was alerted by massive “EMERGENCY EVACUATION” signs.
At that time, employees instructed every attendee to proceed to the nearest exit. Some were placed onto shuttles, while others walked off the premises and were told they had to leave for the evening.
Variety
About 30 minutes later, a new update was sent out: “Please continue to shelter in place. Stand by for the next update.”
At 9:37 p.m., exactly one hour after the last update, Stagecoach revealed, “We’re back in the saddle,” and posted updated times for Lainey Wilson and Pitbull; the festival will now go until 1 a.m. instead of the originally planned 11:55 p.m. Journey will no longer play.
On the Stagecoach Instagram account, hundreds of comments shared their anger over the way the festival handled the announcements and ushered people out. Many wrote they were encouraged to get on shuttles to go home, but then they wouldn’t be able to get back in time.
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