We Are FSTVL: London festivalgoers ‘collapse’ after queuing for three hours in the sun

Organisers of the festival, a two-day event held in east London, have apologised for the issues

A London festival descended into chaos after attendees were left to queue for hours, with reports that some “collapsed” in the heat, while a crowd pushed through security gates.

Organisers of We Are FSTVL, a two-day festival held in east London, have apologised for the issues that reportedly forced festivalgoers to queue for over three hours on Saturday, with those present saying there was a lack of wristbands. One Twitter user claimed they saw “people being carried out by medics due to dehydration”.

“They’d run out of wristbands at the door so they didn’t have drink token wristbands when they were letting people through,” a woman told Radio 1 Newsbeat. “They weren’t handing out water so everyone in the queue for three hours didn’t have a drink.”

Videos posted to social media appeared to show a crowd dismantle the barriers and rush past staff in order to get into the event.

“A barrier got thrown into the crowds, the woman next to me got hit by it and it sliced a massive chunk out of her leg,” the woman added. “She’s passed out on the floor, security ran over to her and people were just charging through. They took out the barriers, pushed through security, punching security, just taking everyone out in their way.” The Metropolitan Police said they were not “aware of any serious injury” at the event.

The festival line-up included Chase and Status, Bugzy Malone, and CamelPhat.

Organisers of We Are FSTVL said in a statement: “Our sincere apologies for anyone that experienced delays coming into the show today. A reminder to weekend ticket holders you don’t need to re-scan your wristband on Sunday but you will be subject to a search.”

“To make things quicker for everyone tomorrow we are also adding additional staff, infrastructure and have worked with the technology providers to speed up the ticket checking process.”