INDIANOLA, Iowa — The National Balloon Classic Field typically sees airy balloon scenes and fried food vendors in late July.
On the last full weekend of September, it was the home to Knotfest 2021 in Indianola, attracting more than 30,000 fans of Slipknot, Megadeath and others.
Most attendees Local 5 spoke to raved about the music and band sets. But most agreed the overall experience was tainted by extremely long lines, a lack of water and chaotic organization by the event leaders.
"I could not drive out of there fast enough," said Blake Winfrey, who drove from South Dakota on Saturday to see his favorite band, Slipknot.
Winfrey got a bad feeling as soon as he arrived at the outdoor venue to park and get through the gates.
"The line was already a mile long," he said. "I finally got into the show ....and that's when I noticed that the lines and stuff for everything was just ridiculous. I started to kind of hearing from other people in the crowd that they've been waiting in line for five hours to get drinks."
Alyssa Lewis echoed the same issues when she got to the field area to get inside.
"There weren't any signs or people directing, so the people getting off the shuttles just hopped in the middle of the lines skipping people who already waited an hour," Lewis said.
Lewis said the vendors inside the area looked stressed and overworked.
"The lines were so long, they were blobbed together in the middle so it was confusing which line was for what," he recalled.
Winfrey listened to Slipknot for a while, but around 11 p.m., she wanted to beat the car lines to get out.
"I walked out and there was already a line of cars waiting to leave the venue," Winfrey said. "I didn't start my car until a little after 1:30 a.m. when I was finally able to pull out of my parking area to leave."
Local 5 reached out to Mammoth, the production company and event organizer, for comment on the complaints. They did not respond.
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