The “Imagine Music Festival”, held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Henry County over the weekend (Aug 26-28) had several complaints raised, including noise from the festival that was heard several miles away in neighboring counties.
Although Imagine Music Festival proved to be a resounding success, the police have revealed several noise complaints from three different counties around the venue. Reported complaints have been traced all the way to Fayetteville – a county over ten miles away !!
Cathy Bonner said she’s lived in Fayetteville for more than 31 years and said, “If you live two counties away and it would take you almost thirty minutes to drive there — you shouldn’t be able to hear the drums and bass pounding until 3 a.m. for three nights in a row.” Bonner lives 10 miles away from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. She said she called police who said they were getting several complaints about the noise.
There were complaints regarding the ‘Imagine Music Festival’ from more quarters. Attendees took to social media to complain about conditions at the festival. Many complained about access to water, the lack of security outside of the showers and the general feel of disorganization.
“That was a joke. Security was a joke,” said Natasha Taylor, who attended the festival from Mississippi. “We feel like it was dangerous. We said that several times, that they were playing with people’s lives. (They said), ‘There’s going to be all these water filling stations. There’s going to be all these misters everywhere. Oh, there’s going to be shade.’ There was none of that.”
Because of that, she left early, fearing for her own safety. “It was 100 degrees outside. We weren’t going to sit there with no water and not be able to take showers and everything,” she said.
Another woman voiced similar concerns.
“There’s no amenities, there’s no security, there are no signs telling you, you know, go here for help. I didn’t see a single medical tent,”
Despite, the complaints, the festival’s organizers called the music festival a “success.”
We want to thank those that attended Imagine Music Festival this weekend. We are grateful for the support we have had and appreciate the understanding of our fans, as we adjust to a new, larger venue. With a successful Imagine Music Festival completed, we realize there were certain opportunities and challenges facing us that will need to be immediately addressed and remedied.
While many of these issues are no different than those that face any outdoor festival, Imagine Music Festival holds itself to a higher standard and we are taking steps to ensure that these are not a part of the festival in 2017. Top of these is the fan concerns voiced through the festival website and social media pages. While certain claims have already been identified as not holding any validity, we take this very seriously and will be looking into to every claim individually.
A spokesperson said an estimated 20,000 people attended each day of the festival. For security, the spokesperson said there were 260 security team members and 70 Henry County Sheriff’s officers. With 20,000 people, that works out to roughly 60 people per law enforcement or security agent. In addition, there were also 32 EMS officials and four onsite ambulance and fire patrols. As to what the festival did to provide relief from the weekend heat, the spokesperson said there were eight water stations with 16 taps each throughout the entire festival grounds, three misting stations, 10 shading structures and a 25-yard cooling pool.
