GREENBACK, Tenn. (WVLT) - Getting the work boots muddy on a Greenback farm is usually the result of a long day’s work, not a weekend music festival.
Those who attended the Rock the Country festival at Maple Lane Farm got just that Friday afternoon, however, when festival doors opened to a muddy and rain-soaked field.
Jet Ellis said she and two others spent around $1,800 for a campsite and entry into the festival. A music festival veteran, Ellis said the event’s organizers weren’t prepared for the onslaught of rain East Tennessee saw Friday.
“I’ve been to 11 Bonnaroos and to Cochella,” Ellis said. “From my view point, yes we knew it was going to rain all three days, we came prepared for this. However, it seems like the festival organizers weren’t prepared.”
Ellis, who’s camping, said there were issues from the beginning just trying to get RV’s into the camping areas.
“When they started back up letting RV’s to their spots every one of them got stuck and had to be towed to their location,” she said. “Using construction equipment to tow people in is insane. Why didn’t they make arrangements with several Knoxville towing companies that are professionals in towing?”
The rain didn’t just force Rock the Country showrunners to get creative with construction equipment, however.
The first performance — Logan Crosby — was set for just before 3 p.m., followed by Sammy Kershaw at 4:40 p.m. After Friday’s rain, Rock the Country moved the event’s start from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and posted an updated schedule, missing those two of the day’s five acts.
Friday afternoon, the schedule changed again, eliminating Shenandoah from the lineup and moving Nickelback’s performance up almost three hours to 6 p.m.
There’s been no updates on performance reschedules or refunds — in full or just partial. That being said, a post from Rock the Country said showrunners were bringing in mulch and clearing as much mud as possible ahead of the event’s start.
“We’re working hard for you, and we want you to have a good time,” the post said.
Another post from Friday morning said, “We’re continuing to work on the site conditions, but the camping hub is open, and we’ll have our water-refill station placed near the showers at the red barn for you guys! None of this could happen without you, and we’re so thankful you’re here!”
WVLT News has reached out to Peachtree Entertainment for more information and a statement.
“It’s an absolute mess out here,” Ellis said. “People are trying to remain positive but you can tell people are about at their breaking point.”
Rock the Country posted an update on its Facebook page:
“As day one concludes, we recognize it wasn’t the experience we had hoped to deliver. Our site saw over 7 inches of rain in the last week and the team worked tirelessly to prepare the site for you leading right up until doors, and with more weather anticipated, we needed to adjust set times to ensure our headliner could still perform. We know many of you are reaching out about options, and we’ll be emailing you next week once we’re through the weekend.
Until then THANK YOU to all who showed up and partied with us today. The site team is working overnight to reset and we’ll see y’all tomorrow."
Rock the Country
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