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Texas Eclipse, a five-day music festival that began last Friday and was centred around today’s (8 April) solar eclipse, has been cancelled due to a “severe weather warning”.
Organisers say that there are risks of high winds, tornadic activity, large hail, and thunderstorms for later today, including during the eclipse.
Click here for live updates about today’s solar eclipse.
Before the abrupt cancellation, attendees on social media were already calling it the “worst camping experience ever” and claiming that it “Texas Eclipse is turning into a Fyre [Festival] situation”.
Fyre Festival was a “luxury music festival” held in the Bahamas in 2017 which became a notorious disaster, collapsing in chaos after issues with food, security and accommodation arose. It was the subject of two documentaries that aired on Hulu and Netflix in 2019.
Hundreds of electronic music acts had been booked to perform at Texas Eclipse on Reveille Ranch in Burnet County, but organisers Disco Donnie Presents say that after discussions with Burnet Country officials, local safety agencies and The National Weather Service they’ve “agreed to end the festival today in a calm orderly manner”.
All performances scheduled for today and tomorrow have been cancelled.
On Reddit, one attendee wrote that the cancellation was: “Karma for all the lies and broken promises from disco donnie and his lack of organization & accountability.”
Another alleged that: “Artists [were] being turned away and the ones that stay don’t have places to sleep” and criticised the lack of signage between the camp sites and the festival which meant that “people are getting lost on a 2 mile hike”.
The cancellation of the festival came just hours before the solar eclipse is due to occur. Organisers said in a statement that: “Guests may stay for the eclipse provided they pack and are prepared to depart after totality. This guidance may change based on weather.”
Another Reddit user described Texas Eclipse as “hell on Earth” and told Disco Donnie: “You should be ashamed of yourself”.
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In a lengthy post they claimed that the festival was over capacity, was poorly lit and had a lack of medical staff.
“i am honestly BAFFLED at how how poorly run, managed, + oversold a festival could be,” they wrote. “the BARE NECESSITIES that a festival should have for the safety of their attendees were NOT MET.”
Another complained about the exorbitant prices for food. “$66 for pizza!? $30 for tots? F*** that,” they wrote. “It’s just mean now. I will never attend another DD produced festival.”
Attendees have been told they will “receive an email with a partial refund policy” in light of the cancellation.
The Independent has approached Disco Donnie Presents for comment.
Across North America, millions of spectators are expected to try and catch a glimpse of today’s celestial phenomenon.
