Panorama Day One Flooded With Rain and Angry Festival Goers

Veronica Liow

Hundreds of people leaving Panorama Music Festival as security led them toward emergency exits.

Pamela Jew, Managing Editor of Under the Arch
July 29, 2018

With the headliner amounting to be Daniel Caesar, Panorama Music Festival was cut short on its first day due to incoming flooding. Randall’s Island, where the festival is held, was evacuated at approximately 5:00 p.m. just as Dua Lipa was about to take the main stage, and Sabrina Claudio’s set had to shutter early at the Pavilion Stage.

Panorama officials quickly took to the festival’s social channels tweeting and posting their regrets of having to cancel the second half of day one. They promised to give everyone full, automatic refunds for their Friday tickets whether they bought a one-day, two-day or three-day pass.

For those who came earlier in the day before the evacuation — which seemed like less than a third of Friday’s ticket holders, smaller acts such as Debit, Rich Greene, Turtle Bugg, Supa Bwe and Soulection had the chance to play their sets wholly. In flocks of plastic ponchos and carefree vibes, fans at these shows had prepared themselves for Panorama’s initial promise of the show will go on — rain or shine.

But the weather had different plans as security started to usher out thousands of people off the island after a flood warning. As people left the island, lines for the ferry back to Manhattan had wait times of 30 minutes to an hour. At this time, Uber had a surcharge on its rides with a ride from Randall’s Island to Midtown costing approximately $150. Many people decided to ditch waiting for the ferry and X80 buses and decided to walk the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge’s pedestrian walkway back to Manhattan. One man was even seen skipping the slow-moving huddle of people by walking along the barricade between cars and the pedestrian walkway. 

Canceled acts included Charlotte Gainsbourg, The War on Drugs, Jhené Aiko, Migos, Father John Misty and headliner The Weeknd. The Weeknd’s Friday performance was supposed to embody a make-up headlining show from The Meadows Music and Arts Festival two years prior when the rapper had to cancel his headliner appearance after being rescheduled to an earlier showtime to accommodate scheduling conflicts.

Artists, such as The Weeknd and Dua Lipa, tweeted and posted on their Instagram stories about the cancelation, telling fans they’d return to New York City to play again.

The festival is planned to return tomorrow, but if you’re planning on making the trek again, be ready for a muddy day ahead. Leave those new white Air Force Ones at home.

 

Email Pamela Jew at [email protected].