Photo Credit: Travis Scott/Instagram
Travis Scott’s second annual AstroWorld festival had a rather dangerous start today with fans literally running over each other to get inside. Three people were hospitalized when fans began to climb over metal barriers and even using bolt cutters to get in before the noon opening. The injuries sustained were to their legs and minor but being sent to the hospital just to get into a show isn’t cool at all. The Houston Police Department told local CBS affiliate KHOU-TV that they were trying to get more police to control the crowd there. The Houston Police Department accused Scott’s team of being ill-prepared but have since deleted it. Thy wrote that they would be “bringing additional officers to staff the ASTROWORLD Festival,” adding that the festival’s “promoters did not plan sufficiently for the large crowds and understaffed the event.”
A whopping 50,000 people were expected to come to the artist’s one day festival with performances from Scott, Pharrell, Migos, Gucci Mane, Sheck Wes and Rosalia, among others. Festivals have become common these days by everyone from Lil Wayne to Kanye West and Chance the Rapper because they’re an easier way to make money than selling records these days but dealing with massive crowds in the 10s of thousands can become a nightmare of epic proportions. Just ask Ja Rule about his Fyre Festival. He’s considering doing another festival but with this being what many would consider a permanent stain on his name, it’s definitely going to be an uphill battle. We just hope to not hear this type of a problem with Scott’s show next year although we’re sure the local police department is going to give his team plenty of recommendations on safety measure by then and probably fined for creating conditions that lead to a stampede in the first place.
GRAND OPENING #ASTROWORLDFest #AstroWorld pic.twitter.com/g3PmK7KKbo
— Tony Tone (@tony92tone) November 9, 2019
