Organizers of the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona canceled headline performances by Doja Cat, Massive Attack, and Bad Gyal on Thursday night, citing safety risks from winds gusting to 80 km/h (50 mph) and heavy rain under a yellow weather warning. Earlier in the day, sets by American producer Alex G and Canadian singer Mac DeMarco were also pulled because of the conditions, the festival said in an Instagram statement.
The cancellations left thousands of attendees standing in rain for hours without clear updates, according to interviews with festivalgoers conducted by BBC Newsbeat. Alex Milsom, a 28-year-old from London who works in communications, said the lack of real-time information from organizers “bred disinformation” as fans turned to group chats and Instagram comments for updates.
“I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the middle of the festival,” Milsom told BBC Newsbeat. “There were rumors left, right and centre. It’s proof that when you don’t know what’s going on, you breed disinformation because group chats and messages and Instagram comments were the only way I was finding out what was going on.”
Milsom said he learned that Doja Cat’s set was canceled only after she went live on Instagram, where she told fans she was “absolutely crushed” that she could not perform. He said the festival sent notifications labeled “programme update” but provided no further explanation.
Lauren Cashell, 27, from County Clare, Ireland, said she and her friends stood in the rain for seven hours and “didn’t see a single minute of music.” Having attended Irish festivals with contingency plans for rain, Cashell said crowds at Primavera were “confused as to how there was no backup plan.”
“Everyone was just so shocked as to how it went and how it was handled,” she told BBC Newsbeat.
Organizers said in the Instagram statement that they “understand and share the frustration and disappointment of the audience.” They said they worked with the teams of Massive Attack, Doja Cat, and Bad Gyal to try to get the late-night performances to go ahead but ultimately could not “guarantee safety” of fans or artists. They confirmed “no serious incidents” occurred and that all safety protocols were followed.
Thursday tickets will be refunded, organizers said, with details about the process to be shared on Monday.
The second day of the festival was scheduled to include performances by The Cure, Addison Rae, and PinkPantheress. Cashell said she expects the mood will still be “high” for the rest of the event, but that “there’s going to be a lot of making up to do.”