The first day of Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival had begun with hundreds of thousands of fans excited to see their favorite artists. However, that all changed during Scott’s set, when a crowd crush resulted in the deaths of eight people, with over 300 more being hospitalized. The rapper and Live Nation have since become involved in multiple lawsuits, and the artist has pulled out of the Day N Vegas Festival. Following the release of video clips of injured audience members, it’s important to remember that situations like this have happened before. The difference is that employees and fans were more aware of their surroundings, and artists have maintained crowd control. 

Multiple attendees have recounted their Astroworld experience on social media. Madeline Eskins posted an Instagram photo oh her ordeal, saying, “I passed out because people were pushing up against me so much that I couldn’t breathe.” This experience alone can be compared to Chance the Rapper’s 2017 Lollapalooza set. Known as one of the top Chicago artists, he, along with two Chicago firefighters brought out a hose, and sprayed it throughout the entire crowd. Although this looked to be part of the show, festival attendee Stephanie Escobar explained the shows surrounding, and how the hose was not part of the show. “When Chance sang, the crowd went crazy and there were times where you could feel yourself swaying almost losing your balance. It was extremely hot, which was when they brought out firemen to spray the crowd.”

Other than exhaustion, allegations have been made that some of the audience members at Astroworld were injected with drugs. Although this may sound unbelievable to some, incidents such as this can happen depending on how much one pays attention to their surroundings. In the HBOMax film Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage, interviewees admitted that the security guards hardly investigated bags, making it easy to sneak drugs inside the festival. Unfortunately, with increased security measures, many people who attend music festivals have said that they’ve encountered at least one attendee seeking drugs of any kind.

Due to the large attendance at Astroworld, along with many other festivals, people have done everything they can to stay safe. The little protections that make the biggest difference are fluids and portable phone chargers, which will help attendees stay hydrated and keep in contact with friends or family. However, as proven with Astroworld, one of the hardest issues is to know your limits when going to see a show. Most attendees think about seeing the artist from a good place and being able to get a good video of the performance. Because of this, the surroundings slip from their minds, and the thought about dangerous situations disappear the moment they see the artist. If more people keep this in their minds when attending any festival, there’s a big chance that deaths at festivals could be prevented.