LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After a rough start, day two of Railbird featured welcomed changes for guests.
The hashtags "failbird" and "fyrebird" were going around social media Saturday with attendees hashing out frustrations about long lines and lack of water. However, attendees say day two looked a lot different even with large crowds for headliner Dave Matthews Band.
Karen and John Bethiaume say it was as depicted on social media- disorganized. Yet, they decided to come back.
"We had a two-day pass and our favorite was playing tonight," said Karen.
They also appreciated the change that allowed them to bring in their own water.
"It's a good thing that they took notice and hopefully it just keeps on getting better," said John.
On top of the water bottle change, organizers say they added more water towers, water buggies, and water bottle stations. There were around 50,000 additional bottles places around the grounds.
So far attendees are pleased with the changes made from yesterday. They say it’s been a big improvement.
— Christiana Ford (@christianaford_) August 29, 2021
“Today’s a million times better”- said the Fishers. This is their first trip away from their newborn and they say they plan to enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/mjmJSq0uzD
Attendee Janelle Hager says that made a huge difference.
"Bar lines were lower, water lines were less, so it's better," said Hager.
Others say Saturday wasn't even as bad as people complained it was.
"I think some of the comments were very disrespectful and very harsh," said attendee Regina Menninger. "It's funny to laugh at first. Yes, absolutely I was like yes this is kind of funny, but at the same time, it's literally not the same. Like all of the acts are here. Fyre Festival was like an actual scam."
Menninger says there were some mess-ups but believes staff did what they could and should have been granted more grace.
"Yes it could be more staffed and organized, but it's not- like people were commenting saying it was the worse day of their lives, like that's bologna," said Menninger.
Despite all the problems, overall people say the music is what they came for and the music delivered.
Now that the event is over, members in the community are now focused on the impact COVID-19 placed and whether the thousands in attendance will contribute to a rise in cases.
