The cancellation of the Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2023 was initially attributed to extreme weather conditions. However, new reports from WDBJ7 suggest that poor working conditions for stagehands may have also played a significant role.

Stagehands Walkout Due to Poor Conditions

WDBJ7 has revealed that festival stagehands were considering walking out on Saturday, September 9, citing dismal working conditions. An anonymous stagehand stated, “There were no preparations for our arrival—no showers, no toilets, no fencing. Many amenities only arrived at dusk.” Testimonies also included complaints about inadequate sanitation facilities, with only six porta-potties available for 150 workers.

List of Demands and Threats of Strike

Further investigations indicate that stagehands presented festival organizers with a list of demands at 5 p.m. on September 8. The ultimatum was clear: improve conditions or face a strike. The festival was canceled the next day, on September 9.

First-hand account from Electric Callboy Tour Manager

TankTheTech, the tour manager for Electric Callboy, published a comprehensive YouTube video detailing the festival’s shortcomings. He mentioned a range of issues, from a lack of basic amenities like food and water to organizational failures and even missing staff members.

Inadequate Amenities and Poor Crowd Management

TankTheTech criticized the festival’s poor hygiene and sanitation, mentioning overflowing porta-potties and absence of garbage removal. He also observed,

“I walked the grounds. Dude, I am sorry for any of you that were at ‘Blue Ridge Rock Fest‘. I walked the grounds and what I saw, was like, it was unbelievable. I believe they let in too many people, just from me looking, I would guess that. I saw trash piles about 7 feet tall, all over the festival grounds. Like, they had no sanitation crews taking out garbage.

I have a big question can you let the music festival have trash every where and the bath rooms Not clean at the camp Site. showers are dirty but cool. Blue ridge really needs to setup there game. #blueridgerockfestival pic.twitter.com/dfHH6FahRy

— Christinamma (@Christinamma1) September 9, 2023

Doubts Over Weather Being the Sole Cause

While the festival organizers cited weather as the reason for the cancellation, TankTheTech expressed skepticism. According to him, “The festival is blaming the weather for the cancellation. But from what I experienced, it was an utter disaster from the planning stage.”

Confusion Over Refunds

Blue Ridge Rock Festival organizers have promised refunds, yet their Reddit forum is inundated with queries from confused attendees seeking their money back.

Organizers’ Second Statement

In a follow-up statement, festival organizers said,

“Thank you for your patience during these heartbreaking circumstances,” they began. “There is an overabundance of misinformation circulating that we will fully address in due time. We see you, and are working as quickly as possible on our end to take care of you.

This past weekend’s weather cancellation was a collective one, made by the event’s emergency management team composed of state and county officials, as well as representatives from the venue.

We are currently in extensive discussions with our ticketing company and partners. We ask for a bit more of your patience as we work to provide you with resolution.”