A festival specifically for vegans has been dubbed the ‘Fyre Festival’ of plant-based delights, after attendees claimed the event was plagued by long lines, understaffing and a lack of water and shade.
Vegandale, held on September 14 at Citi Field in Queens, New York, drew thousands of enthusiastic vegans who packed the stadium to check out the more than 200 vegan vendors and musical performances.
However, the festival struggled to keep up with the huge crowds and ticket buyers were furious after having to wait in line for hours in the heat and struggling to find shade or water.
The disarray of the event was reminiscent of 2017’s Fyre Festival, which promised guests a weekend of luxury but ended with attendees stranded on an island with no running water, barely any food, and only a mattress in a tent for a place to sleep.
Although promotional materials for the Vegandale festival showed hordes of happy visitors enjoying delicious vegan snacks, the reality was very different.
A festival dedicated to vegans has been dubbed the ‘Fyre Festival’ of plant-based delights – after attendees claimed the event featured long queues, inadequate staffing and a lack of water
After the event, angry festival-goers took to social media to react angrily to the unimpressive event.
People called the festival, which featured performances by GoRilla, Polo G and Kidi, a “huge mess” and “huge chaos”.
“I tried to go to #Vegandale. It’s a complete mess. Lines lasting hours to get in. People are giving up. We are giving up. We want a refund,” one user wrote in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Vegandale was run so badly that no one talks about the fact that someone fainted in the queue today and we had to scream for doctors,” claimed another.
“If everyone had to wait in the heat for two hours and no one was allowed to sell water, that would have been so bad.”
“Vegandale is a complete mess,” another visitor stated. “$30 for parking, no organization or structure to the lines, thousands of people everywhere, all to get to a tiny bottleneck entrance.
‘Left after two hours and nowhere near the front.’
‘If you’re going to #Vegandale don’t do it,’ said another. ‘It’s a disorganized, chaotic mess.
The festival featured musical performances from GoRilla, Polo G and Kidi, as well as over 200 vegan vendors
The festival struggled to keep up with the immense crowds, leaving ticket holders furious after having to wait in line for hours in the heat and struggling to find shade or water.
While promotional material for the Vegandale festival showed hordes of happy visitors enjoying delicious vegan snacks, the reality was very different
‘There is no staff present. Multiple lines consisting of thousands of angry people waiting… you will have to wait for hours.’
Ticket buyers who attended the same festival in Chicago in July had similar complaints and advised anyone attending the festival in the future to read the reviews carefully.
“The Chicago event was a disaster. A lot of people posted about it, but I don’t think many looked for reviews before buying tickets,” one festival-goer noted.
“Oversold festival, lax security, lackadaisical or nonexistent customer service. VIP had no security check and was overloaded,” read another post from the Chicago portion of the festival.
‘Look at this for [New York City]“It was unsafe and also poorly planned,” the user added.
And it wasn’t just visitors who were unhappy: someone revealed in a Reddit thread that many sellers didn’t want to come back in 2025.
“A lot of vegan businesses aren’t coming back this year because Vegandale is taking 30 percent of their turnover, on top of booth fees,” one user claimed.
Afterwards, angry festival-goers reacted angrily on social media to the unimpressive event
While many criticized the event, a few posts showed positive experiences at the festival
While many criticized the event, a few posts showed positive experiences during the festival.
“This was really fun,” wrote one content creator, captioning a video showing the food stalls.
It appears that Vegandale’s Instagram page has disabled the ability to comment on posts.
According to the website, the festival will also take place in Philadelphia, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Manchester.
The first Vegandale festival was held in Toronto in 2015 with the aim of showcasing “the moral imperative of a world without animal exploitation,” according to the website.
Since then it has spread around the world, with prices ranging from $15 for general admission to $90 for VIP admission.
DailyMail.com has contacted Vegandale for comment.