Stuart WoodUltra Music Festival in Miami has been dubbed ‘Fyre Festival 2’ by some attendees, after 50,000 ticket holders were left stranded with no transport home on Friday.
The festival also saw a surprise appearance by ‘DJ Colonel Sanders’, as a bemused crowd was entertained by a performer wearing a huge helmet in the likeness of KFC’s founder and ambassador.
The annual music festival takes place on Virginia Key, an island off the coast of Miami. But, according to the Miami Herald, only 200 buses had been booked by organisers, capable of seating around 11,000 guests.
The remainder of those in attendance were forced to undertake a 5km walk back to the mainland, in a mass exodus past 1am in the morning.
Colonel Sanders plays #Ultra2019 https://t.co/Izc6L2Deah pic.twitter.com/1ak7nbMIAT
— Stereogum (@stereogum) 31 March 2019
The organisers responded with a statement, saying: “Last night, many of you experienced challenging transportation conditions leaving the festival.
“This is unacceptable and inconsistent with the high standards you have come to expect from us. For this, we are sorry.”
“As you might expect, we have already been working cooperatively with our city and county partners to promptly address and resolve these issues.
“We look forward to offering you a significantly improved transportation experience today and throughout the weekend, and we appreciate the opportunity to earn back your confidence and trust.”
.@ultra you have 30k people doing a 5k walk back to mainland. This has to be sorted for tomorrow! #fyrefestival2 #fail pic.twitter.com/xHu8YI4quf
— Abhi Punj (@misspunjabhi) 30 March 2019