Travis Scott’s 3rd Annual Astroworld Festival took place on the 5th of November 2021. The event, named after the rapper’s third studio album ‘Astroworld’, was first held in November 2018. The festival is held in his hometown of Houston, Texas at NRG Park which is near the former site of Six Flags AstroWorld which was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. This year, the two-day event was sold out with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance.
The 2021 Astroworld festival featured numerous musical guests in addition to Scott himself – SZA, Don Toliver, Roddy Rich, Lil Baby, and Drake who featured as a surprise performer. The stage set up was elaborate and lit up by pyrotechnics during Scott’s performance on the main stage. But what was meant to be a fun-filled night quickly turned into a night of terror and trauma.
Scott’s set began after SZA wrapped up her set on the second stage. After her performance, the stage went dark momentarily. This was followed by a countdown to Scott’s entrance on the main stage. As Travis Scott emerged for his performance, many pushed forward to reach the main stage which created a crowd surge. According to nbcnews.com – the chaos unfolded shortly after 9 p.m. when the crowd began to “compress” toward the front of the main stage. According to officials, a few people started “going down” by 9.30 p.m. The show ended at about 10:10 p.m. when officials made producers aware of what was happening.
Following the first night of the concert, attendees took to social media to both post pictures and videos of the chaos which occurred in the crowd, and to detail their experiences at the event. Most of their accounts of the event were ones of shock and anguish – criticizing event managers and Scott himself for poor planning and lack of safety precautions. A concertgoer told apnews.com: “As soon as he jumped out on the stage, it was like an energy took over and everything went haywire. Suddenly, your ribs are being crushed. You have someone’s arm in your neck. You’re trying to breathe, but you can’t.”. Experts who have studied deaths caused by crowd surges say they are often a result of density – meaning too many people are packed into a small space.
The second day of the festival was cancelled after it was reported that 8 people died and dozens were left injured from the event. The current death toll is 10 with the dead ranging in ages from 9 to 27. Many were still hospitalized due to injuries sustained from the event. Additionally, numerous other attendees have stated that they are mentally traumatized and distressed from the event.
Many celebrities (including those who performed at Astroworld) sympathized and expressed their condolences via social media. Scott released a short statement expressing his devastation regarding the lives that were lost – as well as those who were injured. Evidently, this was not enough. Over 100 lawsuits have been filed against Travis Scott and Live Nation Entertainment who coordinated and promoted the event. People are additionally calling for Travis Scott to be “cancelled” because of his alleged disregard for the safety of those in the audience and his brand of “raging” whereby he influences his fans to essentially “go crazy”.
The Houston Police Department are currently still investigating the catastrophe, and new information regarding the event is being released daily. Ultimately, what occurred at Astroworld is tragic and disheartening. We can only hope that devastation of this has urged other artists and performers to strictly value the safety of their audiences at their live shows.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2021/11/13/astroworld-lawsuits-top-100-a-week-after-tragic-concert/
https://news.yahoo.com/travis-scott-live-nation-hit-155046345.html