After unruly crowds prompted a police response at the KAABOO Musical Festival in Del Mar this weekend, some festival goers say they plan to stay away from the festival next year.
As many as four people were arrested by San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies Saturday when at least one fight erupted between ticket holders turned away from seeing rapper Ludacris and DJ Steve Aoki at the ENCORE stage.
"I thought I was going to get trampled to death," one festivalgoer wrote on Facebook.
"...Realizing how unsafe this festival was, we left early ... Never going back to KAABOO," another wrote on Facebook.
A San Diego County Sheriff's Lieutenant told NBC 7 San Diego the venue filled up as people from other venues were trying to leave, and the crowd became unruly. There were several fights, the Lieutenant said.
A KAABOO spokesperson siad they understood some people were disappointed they could not get into the venue, but the matter was an issue of safety. The spokesperson said they do not release specific numbers for venues.
Though Tim Fennell, CEO/General Manager of the Del mar Fairgrounds, where the festival was held, says more than 75,000 people attended the three day festival.
Fennell says there’s a simple fix to the issue that sparked the chaos Saturday night.
“You want to make sure the programming is correct, so traffic flow is better. So from a programming standpoint, we'll sit with KAABOO and work out what shows are on what stage. When do stages let out, so you can increase traffic flow," said Fennell.
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Despite the incident, officials say no one was injured. Sheriff's officials formed a skirmish line and people eventually dispersed into the parking lot to end the incident.
However, festivalgoer David Lopez, a Chula Vista resident, said the incident was a beyond-hectic experience.
"It turned into a big chaos riot," Lopez recalled. "People throwing stuff, fights breaking out and cops tackling people with pepper spray and tasers."
Fennell says they are in the process of reviewing complaints left on a hotline setup to field concerns.
A member of the City Manager's office says they will get reports from the Fairgrounds and relay them to City Council members, most likely at their October meeting.
“The most we can do is if we perceive there's a gap in security, we can point it out and say hey next time maybe you want to do it better. But I suspect they did it right,” said Del Mar City Councilman Dwight Worden.
KAABOO has a five-year-contract with the Fairgrounds.
If safety or other issues aren’t addressed accordingly, that contract could be revoked.
But officials say KAABOO has been diligent about being a good neighbor and has actively tried to remedy noise concerns.
Festival organizers are now working with Fairgrounds officials to fix any safety issues.
