NEW YORK — There were more setbacks for the Electric Zoo Festival on Saturday.
The music festival first day was canceled Fridayand on Saturday, the start was delayed by two hours, canceling some of the DJs’ acts.
“Frustrated. It’s frustrating. But we’re here. Hopefully that will make up for what we missed. Hopefully,” said Lauren Elliott, a Philadelphia resident.
The organizers promised to start the festivities on Saturday at 1pm, but announced on social media minutes earlier that this would have to be pushed back two hours to 3pm.
Nikademis was supposed to start his very first DJ set at the festival at 1 pm, but his act was cancelled.
“It’s a shame that I found out through social media like everyone else. Other than that, there was no communication with me, and frankly, there still hasn’t been much communication about what’s going on,” he said.
Friday was the same story. No one has contacted the festival directly about the cancellation; it was posted to social media in a statement highlighting “unparalleled challenges” and citing “global supply chain disruptions” that prevented the main stage from being built.
Mau P, a DJ from Amsterdam, also had his set canceled and found out just like everyone else.
“They’ve put in so many hours and worked, and I mean I’ve seen people cry today who have worked on this festival for so long, and it’s heartbreaking,” he said.
Some fans were given one-day tickets for Friday and only found out when they arrived that it had been cancelled.
“We spent all this money and came all this way only to find out it was canceled. You know, we booked a hotel,” said one fan from Stamford, Connecticut.
The festival did promise to reimburse ticket holders in full after Friday’s cancellation, as well as pay their ferry and bus fares, but some visitors who came from far away say that’s not enough, and they don’t plan on coming back.
“We want our money back and more for the inconvenience, that would be really nice,” Elliott said.
“Is this your first time coming?” asked Kristie Keleshian of CBS New York.
“Yes,” Elliott said.
“Would you come back again?” Keleshian asked.
“No,” Elliott said, laughing.
For other fans, however, the anticipation only made them more excited.
“I feel great. I’m glad the show is going on. Hopefully everyone will have a great time and enjoy the show,” said Joe Daguiar of Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The festival never explained why it was delayed by two hours, but construction on at least one of the stages continued into the early Saturday afternoon.
