Last Saturday June 1st, a false gun scare caused a stampede at the Roots Picnic Music Festival. The event took place at the Mann Center at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. No fatalities occurred but five people were injured from the stampede. The stampede took place during 21 Savage’s set. Although no arrests were made the festival was only off for an hour and then continued as usual.
According to Pitchfork, at the event a fight broke out and people began to panic, causing fans to run away from the site. The police reported that “there were five people with injuries—four with minor injuries and one concertgoer with a broken leg.” However, a spokesperson from Live Nation, the company that put on the Roots Picnic Music Festival, claimed that a medical issue caused the stampede. A similar incident took place at the Rolling Loud event in Miami back in May. When a fight broke out, many of the event goers falsely believed that an active shooter was present.
This was the Roots Picnic’s 12th year as a music festival. Past artists have included Usher, Future, Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, the Weeknd, Pharrell, and more. This year featured some interesting acts including H.E.R., Blueface, and, of course, the Roots. The group celebrated the 20th anniversary of their most popular album Things Fall Apart.