No headliners and heavy rain ruined day 1 of Vewtopia Music Festival. Are refunds coming?
South Florida is known for temperamental weather, but Friday before the Super Bowl was extreme. Thunderstorms ravaged Miami-Dade County, drenching cities and shutting down events.
Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar concert featuring Lizzo and Harry Styles was partially canceled and guests were ushered out onto the muddied streets of Watson Island as the rain continued to come down. When a thunderstorm warning was put into effect, the venue had to be evacuated. Guest were not happy, but Pepsi said refunds would be issued.
But the Pepsi concert wasn’t the only one that was affected by the bad weather. Vewtopia Music Festival’s and SuperFest Miami LIVE’s fest in Miami Gardens was also rained out. Vewtopia was originally scheduled to take place at Marlins Park, but a week before the event was added to SuperFest Miami LIVE, a fanfest that took place in Miami Gardens close to the Hard Rock Stadium.
Music industry giants were set to perform throughout the two-day music festival with Friday being the kickoff and seeing headliners like Chris Brown, Megan Thee Stallion and Ty Dolla $ign. Those acts were a no show. Was it the rolling thunderstorms that caused the cancellations? Vewtopia didn’t explain the artists’ absence until the following day via tweet.
“Due to last night’s unforeseeable circumstances outside of the organizer’s control, a lightening advisory was issued and the concert could not continue under the circumstances,” Vewtopia Miami said in a statement the following day.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the area where the festival took place had no evacuation incidents at the time the thunderstorm warning was announced and when the Pepsi concert was evacuated.
Social media exploded with angry guests demanding refunds as none of the headlining artists or other acts showed up. Vewtopia has not publicly said they will be offering any refunds or reimbursements.
Chris Brown’s team posted a statement on Instagram which was later deleted, saying “Unfortunately after not being able to come to an agreement with promoters we regret to inform you that CB will not be performing toady at Vewtopia/SuperFest in Miami.”
Although Megan Thee Stallion wasn’t at Vewtopia, she did perform at The Dome, a nightclub in Miami, with Gucci Mane on Friday night.
Rapper Dre Sinatra, who was supposed to be coming with Ty Dolla $ign, said the blame falls on the concert promoter. He called the festival “boof,” which means trash.
Vewtopia, SuperFest and the City of Miami Gardens did not immediately get back to the Herald.
The second day of Vewtopia festival, headliner Cardi B took the stage without a problem.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)