An official statement from Texas Eclipse has been released regarding the festival’s cancelation, the venue’s issues, the death that occurred, and more.
Texas Eclipse was meant to be a celebration of a celestial occasion but turned into a weekend filled with chaos and controversy for many attendees. Artists spoke out about a lack of payment or accommodations that forced them to cancel sets, and after the first day began, social media was buzzing with other problems that seemingly plagued the festival. By Monday, Texas Eclipse organizers had officially canceled the festival due to weather concerns, and news surfaced of a death that occurred the previous night.
The festival attendees have taken to various social media platforms to speak on their experience, with the negative aspects seemingly outweighing those who had a more pleasant time at Reveille Peak Ranch. While responses began to trickle in over the past few days, Texas Eclipse has released an official statement “to address online rumors and take responsibility for what was within our control.”
The official statement begins with Texas Eclipse thanking attendees and officials from Burnet County, including the Sheriff, for assisting in the evacuation of the festival grounds after the cancellation was announced. “We canceled because of the high likelihood of multiple days of severe weather, including tornadoes and damaging winds, large hail, lightning, and heavy rain,” the statement reads. “The forecasted weather would have created extremely dangerous and catastrophic results for our guests and staff, many of whom were camping in fabric tents and some without cars.”
We understand that canceling a music festival is disappointing for everyone involved. Not only does it disappoint our guests, artists, and us, but it also entails developing and implementing refund policies, managing customer service inquiries, dealing with insurance matters, handling negative press, and more. However, the alternative could have been far worse. If the forecasted weather had occurred with the full audience present, we would have faced a potential disaster instead of a safe and orderly exit from the venue.
Insight on the weather cancelation makes up a good portion of the lengthy statement from Texas Eclipse, but they discuss other points of conversation that have surfaced online. Partial refunds are in the works, with updates for everyone coming soon, and they’ve stated that while their permit was for 40,000 attendees, they were “well under that number.”
Many of the problems that plagued the festival and camping grounds were due to varying elevation and surface types and the fact that this was the first time an event of this scale had been hosted there. “We worked with vendors who run camping plans and services for the top festivals nationwide,” Texas Eclipse stated. “The site’s unique terrain resulted in a slower camping load-in process and other challenges. We apologize for the impact that this had on your camping experience.”
Diving into the medical situation at Texas Eclipse, the festival has stated that they had “24/7 medical care on site with 2 primary medical facilities and 5 ancillary facilities.” Additionally, there were four doctors on site at all times, and a support staff that included RNs, paramedics, EMTs, and ambulances that were on standby. Burnet County EMS was also on site in an on-call basis.
Texas Eclipse also dispelled the rumors of multiple deaths happening on-site while acknowledging the passing of one person at a hospital after they had been transported from the festival. “We will not provide further details out of respect for their family’s privacy as well as following HIPAA guidelines,” they said before offering condolences. “We are deeply saddened by this loss, and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the deceased during this tragic time.”
Addressing the claims about the water situation, Texas Eclipse shared that they had ten water stations throughout the camping areas during the event, and that water was available to purchase at “no less than 24 vendor locations and two general store locations.” They also mentioned that a water pipe broke, leading to multiple showers not functioning throughout the event.
Sound complaints did surface during the first night of Texas Eclipse, which led to adjustments being made and a dedicated hotline for those in the area to call. “Despite our efforts to address the issue, a number of non-affiliated individuals brought their own sound systems to the camping areas,” they said. “They operated outside of our control and guidelines.”
Regarding the artist cancelations, Texas Eclipse stated that there were many complex logistics due to hosting over 500 artists, many of whom were international. “Even when the logistics are properly addressed, we still cannot guarantee all artists who are booked will show up and perform,” they stated. “Nevertheless, we made every effort to resolve the issues.” Texas Eclipse goes on to say that they received no response to their communication attempts. Additionally, accommodations were faced with challenges due to the “complex coordination among multiple groups.”
Texas Eclipse closed the statement by once again thanking those who helped make the festival what it was, including the over 3,000 team members and collaborators, over 2,000 guests, speakers, performers, vendors, sponsors, artists, and staff. “Although the festival did not end the way we all wanted, we were still a part of a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
