Portola Festival Organizers Address Crowd Rush Incident: ‘A Minimal, Isolated Issue’
San Francisco’s Portola Festival at the city’s Pier 80 experienced a crowd issue Saturday (Sept. 24) when a large group of people rushed an early evening set by English producer Fred Again.
The incident at the site occurred around 5 p.m. on the festival’s opening day. Video shared to social media shows members of the crowd jumping over the barricade surrounding the event’s Warehouse stage, a large enclosed space with two separate entrances for general admission and VIP attendees.
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The crowd waiting to get in through the GA entrance began gathering outside the Warehouse roughly 30 minutes before Fred Again’s set was scheduled to begin. As the crowd ballooned in size, a large throng of people bottlenecked at the GA entrance, with many of them unable to get inside and with some members of this crowd then jumping over the barricade to gain entrance. According to festival promoter Goldenvoice and its owner AEG, no one is was injured.
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“There was a minimal, isolated issue with a festival stage entrance yesterday,” a representative for Goldenvoice parent company AEG says in a statement. “This occurred within the confines of the grounds and was quickly addressed and corrected. There were no reported injuries and the festival continued for another six hours without incident.”
The festival also reported no incidents of gate-crashing and no on-site arrests during the first day of the two-day event, which is hosting its debut event this weekend.
On social media, festival attendees took aim at Portola regarding crowd flow issues primary concerning the Warehouse stage, a permanent structure located on Pier 80, a shipping pier at the San Francisco Bay. Portola features an outdoor mainstage, two tents and the Warehouse space.
Portola’s day one lineup included Flume, Kaytranada, Fatboy Slim, Arca, Jamie xx, Jungle and Bicep. The festival continues Sunday (Sept. 25) with The Chemical Brothers, SG Lewis, Duke Dumont, James Blake, The Blessed Madonna, Four Tet and more.
