A music festival descended into chaos as guests were allegedly crushed as they attempted to flee during a torrential rain storm, an attendee has claimed.
Dave Parry was among thousands to pack into Love Saves the Day in Bristol over the Jubilee weekend but because it was almost completely open air when the heavens opened he said pandemonium ensued.
He described it as being akin to the shambolic Fyre Festival, which became the subject of a Netflix documentary.
Acts were forced to quit on Friday (June 3) due to the rain, while festival goers were trying to shelter under whatever they could before a frantic mass exodus, Dave said.
The 36-year-old, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, attended with four pals and said he can't understand why better provisions weren't taken - when previous years have had tents.
Scores of disgruntled attendees have taken to social media to vent about the festival, posting photos and video of the conditions.
"There were no ponchos for sale and festival goers were forced to seek shelter anywhere they could including toilets, under bins, under benches, under signage," Dave told the Mirror.
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"And the drinks bar became overrun forcing people to get crushed and the bar getting knocked over, all while security and staff took videos and laughed in the warmth.
He said: "Security staff were abusive and aggressive with festival goers trying to seek shelter. Prisoners of war are treated better."
Dave - who has attended each year since 2016 and said they've always previously had multiple tents - said people's lips were turning blue they were so cold, with the rain lasting over two hours.
He continued: "When we tried to leave there was carnage with people getting crushed in the crowds. This festival was on par with Fyre Festival in terms of organisation."
The festival had started on Thursday.
Dave and his friends had paid £66 each for one day passes and arrived between 3 and 4pm.
"About half an hour in the heavens opened and it just rained non-stop for two hours, real torrential rain, and that’s when the chaos ensued," Dave explained.
"There was no shelter anywhere.
"People were ripping off bin lids, holding bin lids over their heads, people were emptying bins and taking the bin liners and wearing them.
"People huddled under benches, people were ripping signage off the walls and carrying the signage over their head."
He said the bar was one of the only areas with any cover, but was only one person deep.
As people rushed in, the bar was knocked over and Dave said staff - standing behind it in a sheltered section - "thought it was hilarious and had their phones out just filming us while laughing".
He said: "People were pleading to be let into the bar to have some shelter and they were saying 'no, get out'."
Dave claimed security staff turned "really nasty" and were shouting at people who refused to stand out in the main festival grounds to get soaked.
"They were being really abusive towards people who only wanted some shelter," he said.
He described people clinging to tree trunks as they tried to get cover but security were "pulling them off the trees...telling them 'you're not allowed to hug the trees'.
"People were pleading, saying 'you’ve got a roll of bin bags there, can we use some bin bags?' and they were saying 'it’s only for rubbish'."
Dave said: "I went to the welfare tent and said 'look my friends are blue, their lips are blue, they are shivering uncontrollably'."
He claims they said they could not come in, and that the area was for medical emergencies only.
"At that point we said we’ve got to go, we’ve got to leave, but everyone had that idea at that point and it was just a huge mass exodus," Dave said.
"Thousands of people all trying to get on these buses and people getting crushed.
"People having panic attacks, getting crushed against the wall.
"When we left, they made it clear to us that there was strictly no re-entry but it was such chaos leaving that it would have been a mission to get back in anyway."
Dave went on to say: "I’ve been to a lot of festivals but this one really takes the biscuit, it was really poorly organised. The fact there was no provisions for shelter."
He said even when they arrived the music that was playing "wasn't quite right...there wasn't any bass coming out", and speculated it was because the speakers had been damaged during rain the previous evening.
"It was a bit s***show in that regard as well. There wasn’t even shelter for the artists. The main stages weren’t under shelter at all. It just wasn’t safe for them to perform."
Dave said the organisers' alleged claims that having tents and coverage would "spoil the aesthetic" is "bulls***, they've had tents every year".
The festival organisers told the Mirror between 6pm and 7pm "a large number of attendees started to leave the event due to the adverse weather conditions".
"Although this was a rapidly changing situation, all the teams on site worked hard to manage the changing flows of people as they headed home or sheltered from the rain.
"It was our priority to make sure everyone who left got home safely and we were able to safely continue the show for everyone who stayed including some great headline acts.
"Whilst there was a sudden increase in the number of people leaving, no injuries were reported to us on-site or in the queues to get onto the buses.
"Despite the challenging conditions, at no point was our event safety management plan compromised. Our team worked together dynamically to manage the situation and the impact of the weather.
"We were forced to temporarily close bars as people seeking shelter filled up the tents.
"These stopped serving as a preventative safety measure as it wasn't possible to provide shelter for people and operate the bars simultaneously. We reopened as soon as it was appropriate to do so."
The spokesperson said the two stages - which were open air - "temporarily closed" meaning two acts could not perform - though said 83 other scheduled acts did.
"All headliners were able to perform that evening and the majority of attendees stayed until the end to enjoy some incredible performances," they continued.
"Many of the trees on Ashton Court are legally protected and had heras fencing around them (this is the case with all shows that take place at this venue) and had to be replaced when people removed it.
"The welfare and medical tents were always kept clear for festival-goers requiring medical attention. This is a vitally important part of the festival infrastructure and could not be used for shelter."
