To address online rumors and take responsibility for what was within our control, please read the following to gain a clear understanding of the events at Texas Eclipse. We’ve listened to your feedback and aim to address your concerns by sharing factual information on key topics. Many online comments may not be accurate.
Site Departure
We appreciate every single person who responded to our request and left the site following our weather announcement and cancellation. Your assistance in a calm and orderly departure demonstrated true respect for your lives and the lives of others, as well as the emergency responders in the County and state. By 9pm on Tuesday 4/9, 99% of our guests departed the site safely and avoided all risk created by the storm. Our primary goal was to avoid a weather-triggered disaster and we accomplished it.
Thank you to all of our partners from Burnet County’s public agencies and law enforcement who worked tirelessly with us to accomplish this in a safe and orderly fashion. Our relationship with the Burnet County Sheriffs was a true partnership with mutual respect.
Emergency Management Coordinator Derek Marchio, Burnet County Office of Emergency Management, said in a statement to CBS, “Yesterday’s weather invariably shows that through the collaborative decision making process, with information provided directly from National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio, [we] came to the correct conclusion to cancel the Texas Eclipse Festival.”
Weather Cancellation
We canceled because of the high likelihood of multiple days of severe weather including tornadoes and damaging winds, large hail, lightning and heavy rain. The forecasted weather would have created extremely dangerous and catastrophic results for our guests and staff, many of whom were camping in fabric tents and some without cars. We had to make a decision early enough to allow for all guests to leave safely before the forecasted weather made that impossible.
Saturday 4/6, Texas Governor Abbott declared a state of emergency from 4/6 through Tuesday 4/9.
Sunday 4/7, Governor Abbott mobilized state agencies and resources, due to the severe weather threat including, but not limited to: Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas National Guard, Texas Department of State Health Service (Texas Emergency Medical Task Force), Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Public Safety: Texas Highway Patrol Troopers
State of Texas media release: https://gov.texas.gov/news/
Sunday 4/7, We held a late night interagency and festival leadership meeting to discuss the severe weather forecast. We set the following meeting for 4:30am.
Monday 4/8, We held two very early morning interagency meetings and multiple internal meetings with leadership representatives from local agencies, law enforcement, our expert weather consultant from Weather Ops (experts used by mass gatherings nationwide) and our leadership. The choice to cancel was unanimous and driven by the level of risk of the forecasted weather and severity of the associated outcomes.
For Monday, Weather Ops forecasted multiple storms with a chance to become severe in the afternoon, with potential for large hail and tornadoes.
For Tuesday and Wednesday, Weather Ops forecasted more severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, damaging large hail, tornadoes and/or high winds, and lightning.
We understand that canceling a music festival is disappointing for everyone involved. Not only does it disappoint our guests, artists, and us, but it also entails developing and implementing refund policies, managing customer service inquiries, dealing with insurance matters, handling negative press, and more. However, the alternative could have been far worse. If the forecasted weather had occurred with a full audience present, we would have faced a potential disaster instead of a safe and orderly exit from the venue.
Had we delayed our decision, the likely result was havoc – a panicked evacuation scenario in dangerous weather. All of the local authorities and public agencies unanimously agreed this could not be risked.
In addition to the storms that occurred throughout April 8 and April 9, Burnet County and our event site were subject to multiple hazardous thunderstorm warnings, a flood advisory, tornado warnings and large hail.
At 9:40am on April 9, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch from 9:40am until 5pm CDT for Burnet County and other areas citing hazardous weather conditions.
Tuesday 4/9, in the morning, there was a lightning strike on site. Heavy storms arrived mid-morning. Our staff sheltered in one of the few buildings on site for multiple hours.
Partial Refunds
We are working diligently with our ticket provider to provide more information. We are committed to resolving this quickly and will update everyone very soon. A significant number of guests purchased using a payment plan which complicates the process.
Shuttles: On 4/8, we secured 27 additional buses that all went from the site to Austin twice. We would have gotten more if they were available. We transported people as quickly as possible. All of our shuttle riders were transported off site before 9pm.
The show was not oversold / over capacity
Burnet County approved our permit with capacity at 40,000 people. We were well under that number.
Site Layout
We implemented adjustments to the site layout and infrastructure with the guidance of industry experts, addressing the unique challenges of using this location as a first-time festival site. The varying elevation and surface types prompted necessary real-time adaptations to our camping plans and logistics.
We worked with vendors who run camping plans and services for the top camping festivals nationwide. The site’s unique terrain resulted in a slower camping load-in process and other challenges. We apologize for the impact that this had on your camping experience.
Medical
We had 24/7 medical care on site with 2 primary medical facilities and 5 ancillary facilities. There were 4 doctors on site at all times during the event as well as supporting staff and equipment, including RNs, paramedics, EMTs and ambulances on standby. We partnered with industry-leading medical service providers. We had additional support from Burnet County Emergency Management, Burnet County Fire / EMS, Burnet County Sheriff’s Office and local officials.
Loss of Life
Rumors of multiple deaths circulating on social media are inaccurate. One person passed away at the hospital after being transported from the festival. We will not provide further details out of respect for their family’s privacy as well as following HIPAA guidelines.
We are deeply saddened by this loss, and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the deceased during this tragic time.
Water and Services
Free water was readily available at 10 water stations distributed around the camping areas of the venue throughout the duration of the event. Water was also available for purchase at no less than 24 vendor locations and two general store locations. Additionally, free water samples and electrolyte packets were available.
We are saddened to hear that some guests may have encountered challenges in locating water or unclean portalets. The scale and complexity of our festival site contributed to operations delays in what was planned to be 24-hour service. At one point, a water pipe broke and we also had multiple showers malfunctioning throughout the event. We worked to fix these issues as quickly as possible.
Sound Complaints
We responded promptly to concerns raised by neighbors during the first night of our festival. Adjustments were made to our sound systems, and we established a dedicated telephone hotline for neighbors to communicate directly with us. Despite our efforts to address the issue, a number of non-affiliated individuals brought their own sound systems to the camping areas. They operated outside of our control and guidelines. We understand the inconvenience and disturbance this may have caused and sincerely apologize to our neighbors.
We did not cancel for insurance money
We made a hard decision to put safety first and avoid a far worse situation. Texas Eclipse festival will take a significant financial loss.
Artist Cancellations
Over 500 artists performed at our festival. The complex logistics involve international and domestic air travel, ground transportation, accommodations, on site transportation, technical riders and marketing specifics — for each artist. Even when the logistics are properly addressed, we still cannot guarantee all artists who are booked will show up and perform. Nevertheless, we made every effort to resolve the issues. Despite the highest levels of our team reaching out to them, they did not respond to our communication attempts. We remain committed to ensuring the best possible experience for all artists involved in future events.
Artist & Performer Accommodations
We understand that some artists’ accommodations varied due to the complex coordination among multiple groups, compounded by late advancements. Despite these challenges, we worked to secure as many resources locally to do the best we could to rectify the situation. We acknowledge any inconvenience caused and extend our sincere apologies to those affected.
Thank You
Lastly we want to say thank you. The Festival grounds were magical and we have received nothing but positive feedback on that end. We couldn’t have done it without the over 3000 team members and collaborators, some of whom we have worked for almost a year, putting this all together. Also, a special thanks to the over 2000 guests, speakers, performers, vendors, sponsors, artists, and staff. Although the festival did not end the way we all wanted, we were still a part of a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and we will share more information regarding partial refunds as soon as possible.