ST CHARLES, Iowa — The Hinterland Music Festival has been drawing in crowds for years but, this year, with the amount of people packed in the venue on top of the heat, it drew in criticism.
Festivalgoers told Local 5 that, while the weekend was full of energy and music, it was also full of issues.
Kandace Leigh, who attended Saturday, told Local Five that the situation felt unique.
"I’ve been to at least 50 major festivals throughout the country and I’ve never seen anything like this," she said.
Nathaniel and Julian Diamond attended all three days of the festival. It was their first time at Hinterland.
“There was no shade to speak of whatsoever," they said.
Even in the lounge area, the Diamonds say there were only a couple of trees to offer relief.
“There were two air-conditioned bathrooms in the lounge area but, if you wanted to go, you’d be in line for like an hour and a half just to use the bathroom," they said.
On top of that, the Diamonds say at times it was so crowded it was hard to move, even if you were stepping aside for a bathroom break. They attribute that to the crowd as well as the physical layout of the festival.
“There were significant bottlenecks of people and it became very difficult and at times I felt dangerous to try and move," they said.
Leigh told Local 5 that people were so close to each other that their blankets were touching in the area she was at.
She says there weren't enough entrances and exits.
"..., trying to evacuate that place would be disastrous," she said.
The Diamonds say there weren't enough water stations either.
“One time, after waiting in line half an hour for water, when I got there, the water tank was out," they said.
On Friday, the first day of the festival, attendees weren’t allowed to bring their own water. The Diamonds believe this led to multiple people passing out. In fact, they said it was a "very regular" occurrence on Friday.
“They had to restart the second verse three or four times because people were passing out - dropping like flies basically," they remembered.
The Diamonds say it wasn’t nearly as bad once rules were changed the next day and water was allowed. They also noticed more water stations as well.
Leigh says that, on Saturday, she saw staff pass out ice and free cans of water several times.
Mercy One tells Local 5 that they transported 15 people to the hospital over the course of the festival. Most of those incidents were heat-related, a couple were traumatic injuries and a couple were medical issues.
The Diamonds say that, despite the concerns they had, they still had a good time and would go again if the lineup was as good as it was this year.
"The lineup itself was so absolutely phenomenal that it did make up for a lot of the issues that might've left a sour taste in my mouth about the fest," they said.