Thousands of people demand refunds after disastrous Texas beach music festival

HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) – Thousands of people who attended the Sol Beach Festival on South Padre Island on Saturday are asking for ticket refunds for what they call a ‘disorganized’ event that failed to deliver the performances promised.

The music festival was to feature the Puerto Rican rapper, Myke Towers and other artists. While the performers were in attendance at the event, they were unable to perform due to power outages caused by inadequate generators.

The event also promised VIP sections and tables, several bars and food trucks. KVEO spoke to several attendees who said the event was “disorganized”, a “horrible experience” and a “waste of time and money”. They say they had to queue for hours to get in, only to find the festival wasn’t as advertised.

Videos sent to KVEO show a disgruntled crowd standing in the dark and in some cases throwing drinks and knocking over a railing.

Participants said that during the power outage, the only communication they received was from a DJ promising that the power would be restored. However, after more than two hours of waiting, guests said they were told to leave without an explanation.

Many of those who paid extra for VIP tickets stood in line longer than those who bought general admission tickets, they said.

“We stood in line for three hours,” said Lyseth Mayorga Serna, who drove from Houston to San Padre Island for the event. “At first there were artists singing, but it seems the lights and the music have gone out. After that, no one left. We finally got there around 11:30 am and once we were in everyone was everywhere no areas were assigned no one did anything at all we waited for the cops to show up and tell everyone to leave “,

Cameron County Parks Director Joe Vega said the AARM shopping group led by father and son George and Jorge Garcia were the organizers who approached the county to put on a show along the beach. He said it was the first show of its kind held in the park.

“We made an agreement with them to organize this event and we thought it would be a great event. They had a wonderful setup, but unfortunately that didn’t happen in the end, ”said Vega.

GG Promotions, which is also affiliated with Garcias, takes much of the heat for the failures of the concert.

Another promoter of the show, Ram de la Cruz, said the problems were mainly due to the lack of staff at the entrances and generators who could not provide enough electricity. Although he and his staff were only hired for marketing and ticket sales, he said some of his staff, including artists scheduled to perform, were to help with the setup just before the start of the concert.

“It was just a big mess,” said de la Cruz. “I just know the artists were there; everyone who needed to be there was there, they just didn’t have the staff to set up or the equipment… It was just poorly organized by these guys.

Cruz said many approached him about the refunds, but he said Garcia was responsible for the issue and the refunds, and he had not heard from Garcia since Saturday morning.

KVEO has contacted Jorge Garcia for comment. Garcia responded and said he and his team “will be releasing a public announcement regarding the event soon.”