A music festival promising the biggest names in hip-hop and a five-star experience that fans will travel from all over the world for turned out to be a flop. Sound familiar?
VestiVille, which was described as being positioned to become “the premier urban music experience in Europe,” was supposed to take place in Lommel, Belgium, this weekend–from June 28 to 30. It was an absolute disaster, earning it the alternative description of yet another Fyre Festival.
12 more days to go! pic.twitter.com/wFGpqdD6CH
— VestiVille (@VestiVille) June 16, 2019
VestiVille’s lineup included huge names such as Cardi B, Future, Meek Mill, Migos, A$AP Rocky, Jason Derulo, Ashanti, and more. After fans waited for hours to get in the opening day–some, after traveling great distances–they were met with the news that the festival was canceled.
The reason for the cancelation was reportedly due to safety concerns flagged by A$AP Rocky, who was not even slated to perform until the last day.
“I won’t be performing today due to security and infrastructure concerns which relate to the production of the show,” the rapper said in a statement on Twitter. “The promoters told me it would be handled but unfortunately for you and me they didn’t.”
https://twitter.com/asvpxrocky/status/1144619474693345280
That was apparently not the only issue plaguing VestiVille. Those who did get in tweeted about the squalid and chaotic conditions inside the festival, such as no food or water being sold and no re-entry permitted.
It didn’t take long for the “festival” goers to draw comparisons to yet another spectacularly failed music festival–Fyre Festival, which was supposed to take place in the Bahamas in 2017. It was founded by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule and billed as a “luxury music festival.” Now, we all know how that turned out.
Currently at @VestiVille – this is FYRE festival 2.0 – was not allowed to leave the campsite during 14hours to go get food or water and they were not selling any either #vestiville
— BadgalCharchar (@sixcharlotte_) June 28, 2019
Police were waiting inside with dogs for people to start running in instead of defusing and getting us to leave safely pic.twitter.com/S6T5Kr7DHG
— Cristina (@CristinaXO_LJoy) June 28, 2019
https://twitter.com/MiamiRosexo/status/1144651533331652608
https://twitter.com/MiamiRosexo/status/1144668225621364738
https://twitter.com/MiamiRosexo/status/1144597034592325632
https://twitter.com/amphiuz/status/1144539904984125440
Shortly after the event was declared a flop, VestiVille organizers posted an official cancelation notice on social media. The organizers claimed that the Mayor of Lommel refused to let the festival go on while also citing A$AP Rocky’s security concerns.
Although no refunds were promised for the pricey festival, organizers said that they would “consult with their official partners.”
Today at 5:00 PM the mayor of Lommel decided to not let Vestiville start. After consultation with the security services…
Posted by Vestiville on Friday, June 28, 2019
Festicket and Eventbrite will consult official partners about the refund policy of the Vestiville tickets
Posted by Vestiville on Friday, June 28, 2019
Still, many pointed out that, well, music fans should have known it was destined to be doomed when they saw Ja Rule’s involvement with VestiVille.
https://twitter.com/WilliamAdoasi/status/1144657231830499328
Yall saw JA RULE on the #Vestiville lineup and STILL BOUGHT TICKETS?! Lmfaooo yall are really dumber than i thought.
— billie eyelash (@ChuchiiLo) June 28, 2019
Fyre fest: Euro edition
Someone please get Jarule to explain the situation— Boubaretta, Who? (@Nick_Holdden) June 28, 2019
If you see Ja Rule in the lineup or anything associated with a festival, that's your sign. #Vestiville #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/lGNevPdPUb
— b:\am 🏋️♂️🤓 (@blampewpew) June 28, 2019
And others joked about an eventual Netflix documentary.
Hey @netflix I’m ready for my interview #Vestiville pic.twitter.com/OxMsF7YKVS
— SAMMY (@foreversammmy) June 28, 2019
2020 on Netflix
" #Vestiville: the greatest lineup that never happened " 😅— Jodeci Tigane (@JodeciTigane) June 28, 2019
https://twitter.com/SoyisileGoqwana/status/1144684462472671233
If you saw Fyre fest and still bought a Vestiville ticket, you got no one else to blame really 🤷♀️
— Sebastiao 🇦🇴🇦🇴🇦🇴 (@JeuneCrisis) June 28, 2019
Did #Vestiville organisers watch the Fyre Festival documentary and thought: Challenge accepted, let’s make the European edition 🤔
— Priya Charity (@PriyaCharity) June 28, 2019
It seems like this isn’t a lesson we should need to relearn in 2019, but–between Fyre, the since-canceled Woodstock 50, and now VestiVille–if a music festival seems too good to be true, that’s probably because is.
READ MORE:
- Woodstock 50 cancellation news sparks Fyre Fest memes
- Conservatives try to rebrand Green New Deal as the next Fyre Fest
- Seth Rogen and the Lonely Island are planning a Fyre Festival film
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