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Food & Music Fest Spotlight: 'The Super Bowl of Regional Food,' Says The SF Chronicle
A good idea, but horrible in execution. Went to this - the most poorly organized festival I have ever attended. It took over an hour just to get in, even with tix in hand.There was no organization, lines were long and unorganized, the "wristband" pay system didn't work, and they started running out of food at three hours in. When we left (disappointed and hungry) mid-afternoon, the refund line was over an hour long, and growing. I can't imagine that if anyone is still there, an angry mob hasn't rioted yet. Hope the "organizers" seriously revamp the logistics before they attempt it again. What a colossal waste of money!
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I've been to a lot of festivals and to Disneyland, and this was by far the most colossally disappointing event I've ever attended. We were there at noon with tix in hand, but left at 4:30, hungry and spending over an hour in the refund line. I won't repeat the details as most of these posts seem to be very similar to our experience. I must add that when we finally got inside the gate around 1:00 and asked a group of employees where we could get a menu and event map, one of them said, "There are no maps and menus - this is a green event." When I said, "Oh...where did they get them?" and pointed to the folks walking past us with them, she replied, "Oh! We have menus??" Sigh (I ended up finding them at a small booth off to the side).
Best thing about the festival: the good humor and camaraderie in the crowds, as everyone was in the same pathetic situation and you couldn't help but laugh a sad, ironic laugh (beats crying, which we did see in the refund line), or cheer whenever someone actually got food and waved it over their heads to the rest of the line as if it was some sort of rare treasure - well, in this case, I guess food WAS a rare and coveted treasure .
Things to think about, should the "organizers" (a generous title, at best) ever attempt this festival again:
- Check out the event site beforehand, and plan out physical space and amount of food to accommodate the large crowds you were expecting...and don't oversell.
- Communication to all employees before the start of the event. There was a plethora of conflicting information.
- Stanchions, and enough employees to control the size, flow and direction of lines and to keep people from cutting in.
- On the back of the Menu, put an Event Schedule and Map, not the Ticketing Options and Prices. We're already in the event - we already HAVE tickets and don't need to know the prices! Oh yeah, and hand them out at the entrance.
- Ditch the "cashless" wristband system that doesn't work.
My boyfriend and I love yummy food, summer festivals, and were really looking forward to a great day of entertainment. We ended up getting Wing Stop hot wings (with an Advil chaser for the hunger-headache), making cocktails at home and reading how much other people felt burned by this festival, too. Awesome.
I would recommend to anyone having a hard time with Live Nation regarding a refund to call your credit card company, explain the situation and dispute the charge.