Three attendees of Elements Festival 2021 have filed a class-action lawsuit against the organizers of the event. Elements Production, LLC; BangOn!NYC; Tested Contained Retreats, LLC; and Brett Herman and Timothy Monkiewicz are all named defendants in the case.
The suit is seeking $5 million in damages and claims that organizers failed to “properly organize, prepare, and provide ticket purchasers and attendees of the Elements Festival 2021 with the experience Defendants extensively promoted and marketed as being a safe, packaged, multi-day camping and music festival.”
Elements Festival 2021 took place over the weekend of September 3-6 in Lakewood, Pennsylvania. In the days leading up to the event, Hurricane Ida passed over the surrounding area causing heavy wind and rain at the festival site. The organizers decided to move forward with the event anyway, and soon after the gates opened harrowing stories started popping up on social media.
Apparently, attendees had to wait upwards of 16 hours to enter the festival. Upon entering, there were no parking spots clearly marked, and attendees were required to transport their camping equipment by hand over half a mile to the camping area through the mud in the dark.
There was no staff to help guide attendees. There was little access to food or water during the long waits, and the bathroom situation was intolerable. According to stories, many attendees left early to avoid a similar situation exiting as well.
In response to the negative experience, Elements has provided a roadmap of changes they are making for 2022. Changes include finding a new location, bringing on a new board of advisors, and offering “the lowest ticket price” in the history of the event for returning attendees in 2022.
