Blue Ridge Rock Fest (aka- BRRF) is an annual multi-day event in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and has become a major stopping point for rock bands and fans since its breakout year in 2019. BRRF is managed by Purpose Driven Events, the music/venue/event company founded by 22-year-old music fan and entrepreneur Jonathan Slye. BRRF 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, but returned this year.
However, there appears to have been an inordinate amount of confusion, mismanagement, and other issues that have angered attendees during, and in the wake of, the event.
ADA compliance
“This has been a shit show.” That was the first text message that I saw from my friend, Mary Smith, who was in Virginia for the Blue Ridge Rock Festival. When I asked her to elaborate she had a very long story to tell about what she described as a chaotically disorganized festival with long waits, disregard for ADA compliance, and a disdainful attitude towards attendee concerns and complaints.
“So it started before we even got here,” said Mary, who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. “They were letting campers show up Wednesday. It was completely disorganized. The area that was ADA camping was filled up with able-bodied people because security didn't know it was ADA camping.”
BRRF had onsite camping areas available at extra cost, as well as offsite camping areas which were to be served by shuttle buses. Mary explained to me that on-site campers received a paper indicating that they were reserved for the on-site location, which they were to put in their car window. The personnel managing the traffic and parking did not respect this and directed all campers into the on-site camping until it filled up, and then directed all overflow, including those who had paid for and reserved on-site, to the off-site camping locations.
“The off-site grounds was [sic] supposed to have free shuttles to get to the venue three miles away, a general store, and showers,” Mary told me. “These didn't happen. The shuttles were three small vans for thousands of people. People were waiting in line for hours. I had an ADA tag so we only had to wait 45 minutes.”
Mary wasn't the only one disappointed with the festival's ADA compliance. She pointed me towards the Facebook group Screwed by Blue Ridge Rock Festival, where attendees have gathered to gripe about the conditions at the festival, share information on attempts to get refunds, and more. There I met Iceis Augustino, a 19 year-old who says she's a dependent power chair user due to a life-threatening neuromuscular disease.
“Nothing about the festival was wheelchair accessible,” Iceis told me. “I emailed the festival over a month ago about accessibility and never got a response.” She continued to tell me that the first day there was no handicap parking available. On Friday she went to see Bad Omens, arriving early to allow time to get the URW Stage, which is the furthest from the festival entrance.
“I didn't even make it to the Monster Stage (the large stage before the URW stage) until 4:40 the grounds are so bad. I kept getting stuck.” Iceis further notes “The Monster Stage is one of the two stages that has handicap viewing platforms, but even that is impossible to get to and the platforms are so far away that it's not enjoyable.”
Although there were carts for ADA transportation, Mary tells me “we saw like five. They told another woman: ‘Yeah, we have them. Good luck getting one.'”
Security and COVID precautions
Other complaints included the festival's lack of security. “(The shuttles) didn't know where to drop us off so they left us backstage where we just wandered in” Mary told me.
”No one was checking wristbands or permits for parking,” said attendee CM Keyes. “Everyone seemed confused and no one had information.”
The lack of security was quickly taken advantage of when attendees started bringing potential weapons into the venue. “I saw people walking in with knives,” Iceis told me.
Knives weren't the worst of it according to an attendee who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from festival supporters. “I was standing near the stage waiting for A Day To Remember to come on during the first day of the festival when a group to my left joined. The group was talking about when they got in they didn't have to show their tickets and security didn't search any of their bags like the website had stated. One man in particular stated something along the lines of ‘Well, if they aren't checking bags, I'm about to bring my gun up in this bitch and just bang bang bang'… We had tried to find security to let them know but honestly didn't see any until the end of the night.”
Festival attendee Justin Smith witnessed a similar incident. “Yup, on the way out during the walk back to the parking lot a guy was already complaining about his day and said he was packing his shit up and coming back with a gun and mumbled something after that. That was a serious threat to me considering the 9/11 weekend and the Las Vegas concert shooting.” However, Smith believes that the security improved after that terrifying incident. “The next day show of force was an appropriate response after myself and several others… contacted local authorities”
Some attendees expressed concern about the festival's COVID precautions. “No COVID precautions or guidelines was a major issue,” Iceis told me. “Currently most festivals are requiring you to be either vaccinated or have a 48 hour COVID test prior and wear a mask, but none of that happened.”
The “Shit Spray” incident
One of the most infamous incidents became legendary amongst attendees as the “shit spray” incident. “[The septic tank at our campsite] burst the first time Thursday night,” said Morgana Rawlings who was placed in the unfortunate camping site where the incident happened. “I didn't gather much information other than there was a leak and they were trying to fix it. It smelled horrible. Friday afternoon, while most of the campers were gone to the festival, the hose completely burst, spewing anything inside a porta potty onto everyone's cars, food, clothes, tents… I don't think they fixed it until later the next day, if they even fixed it at all. But nothing was done until midnight when we had to make a fuss to gather anyone's attention. After it happened at 2:00pm, the cops were called and nothing happened. The fire department was called, nothing happened. After midnight when we were all together waiting for answers, a camper called the emergency health department and (the person they reached) hung up on them. After midnight we got shuttled to a hotel an hour away and was [sic] shuttled back each day for the festival. It still smelled horrible each time we went back to grab things.”
Morgana and others later learned that nobody was supposed to be housed at this particular campsite. “I wasn't there to hear it, I think I was grabbing something from the car, but when the group was there at midnight they were talking to a septic worker that said no one was supposed to be there. In the shuttle on the way to the hotel is when we learned it was called the United Dumping Grounds.”
BRRF response
BRRF has since posted a post-event statement on social media, including an email address which attendees can contact regarding their experience at the festival:
TGEFM has reached out to the festival organizers for a further statement, but has not received a response yet. This story will be updated accordingly as needed.
The county of Pittsylvania, where the festival was held, also released a statement on Facebook about the problems at the event and the steps taken to resolve issues: “When in excess of 20,000 campers arrived during a very short time-frame on Wednesday, the event promotor's on-site camping and traffic vendors were overwhelmed,” the statement read. “At the request of Purpose Driven Events, Pittsylvania County assumed control of all operations outside of the event gates, including transportation services, beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday. That shift led to immediate and sustained improvement for the remainder of the festival, with each day proceeding smoother than the day before. After some difficulties early in the festival, operations on Saturday and Sunday were flawless.”
The statement also touts the revenue the festival brought in: “While the numbers will not be in for another week, the food and beverage tax that Pittsylvania County will receive should be in excess of $100,000.”
Reactions to this statement were mixed. “I think it shows that all the county cares about is the money,” said Mary. “And it shows how poorly run the festival was if [the county] had to take over.”
Justin had a bit more of an optimistic view, commenting “The statement was an optimistic outlook on the overall event. Clearly mentioned being overwhelmed the first day and subsequent days were improved on. I agree with the statement and 33k daily seems accurate.”
CM Keyes notes that “things went smoothly as long as you left before 8 PM. Also inside the grounds were piles of trash and a trench of human waste going down the back portion of the festival grounds. There were no shuttles to the red lot after 8 p.m.”
Iceis, more to the point, comments “I understand the county putting out a positive statement and yes it's frustrating for those of us who had so many problems that weren't addressed, but I don't blame the county, I blame the promoter/organizers. They dropped the ball not the county.”
Returning customers?
When I asked attendees if they would attend again were the festival to make a good-faith effort to improve these issues in the future, the responses varied widely.
“Oh hell yes, I already plan on next year,” said Justin, “and I do hope it continues for several years to come….I'm local and want to camp next year just to have a more involved experience.” One other anonymous attendee gave an unequivocal yes with no other explanation.
CM said she would not due to “traffic, lack of safety and security, sanitation issues, food lines, [and] VIP issues.”
However, Mary's answer was a little bit more nuanced: “Honestly, if Jonathan Slye would have made a statement where he held accountability then yes, I would have considered trying again. However, since he seems to have fucked off and their Facebook page kinda pushes the blame elsewhere, no.”
This article originally cited a mid-event response from Blue Ridge Rock Fest, which purportedly was posted and then deleted via their Facebook page. Although we received verification from sources that the post was legitimate, further research has found that it is of unknown provenance, and we cannot guarantee with a degree of certainty that evidence of the post has been falsified. Due to this, at my discretion mention of the post and commentary surrounding it has been removed from this article. – Editor
Julie is punk rock, lesbian time lady from the future. The greatest things in the world are punk rock and science fiction. Check out her website JulieRiver.com!