Last Friday, the organizers of Electric Zoo were forced to cancel the first day of this year’s festival when its main stage allegedly failed a New York City safety inspection. In a statement explaining the cancellation, EZoo’s promoter, Made Events, blamed it on “global supply chain disruptions [that] have impacted industries worldwide.” However, a report published on Wednesday, September 6 by Billboard cites “touring industry sources” who claim that the reason for the fiasco was Made Events’ alleged failure to pay its 2022 vendors, allegedly leading to a lack of seasoned live music professionals willing to work the event.
Electric Zoo 2023’s issues didn’t end with the festival’s Friday cancellation. The alleged safety concerns took a full 24 hours to address. Festival goers additionally reported hours-long wait times and wristbands that allegedly never arrived in the mail. On Sunday, the event’s organizers cut off entry to the festival with many ticket holders still waiting when the site reached maximum capacity for “unknown reasons.” Several EDM fans still boarded ferries to the island despite the festival’s warnings and many allegedly trespassed through security checkpoints in groups, according to Billboard.
Made Events sent the following message to CBS on Tuesday in response to a request for comment on the issues that plagued EZoo 2023: “The vast majority of Electric Zoo attendees had a great experience, but our job is to make sure everyone’s experience is phenomenal. We’ll be working closely with our partners to review the planning and execution of the event from start to finish.”
On Wednesday, N.Y.C. Mayor Eric Adams said the city would be taking action against Electric Zoo. “It’s unfortunate organizers wanted to turn our city into a zoo, and we were not going to allow that to happen,” he stated in a press conference. “We will be dealing with them in the next few days based on their behavior and actions.”
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