I thought it was too good to be true. Lauryn Hill, Usher, Ludacris, and Ciara, headlining the Lovers and Friends festival? Plus about 60 other artists. All performing within two days in Las Vegas? What a steal deal.
I purchased tickets to go with my friend and hoped that it wasn’t a scam. Luckily, the festival did happen and it was an experience I’ll never forget.
In this post, I’m sharing my review of the 2022 Lovers and Friends festival and whether or not I thought it was worth it. If you are someone who might be wanting to go to the next Lovers and Friends Festival, read this first.
The beginning of the lovers and friends festival
What Happened at the Lovers and Friends festival?
- Food and water lines became outrageously long
- Wait times for water and drinks were at least 1 hour
- The music sets were getting cut short and the artists were getting pissed
- Festival goers were passing out
- The free water fountains were spooling out hot water
- The buses with free air conditioning had long lines
- The cooling fan stations got packed
- The vendors ran out of water
- The overcharge for cold water, ice, and snow cones was ridiculous
- To top it all off, there was a false shooter alarm in the evening
Leaving the Lovers and Friends Festival
False shooter alarm at the lovers and friends festival
After we got back to our hotel later that evening, we heard that there had been a false shooter alarm at the festival around 10pm. The alarm scared the festival goers and ended up causing a stampede.
People got trampled on and injured. I couldn’t believe that happened! It was so packed at the festival (see how packed it was on my Tik Tok video).
We were so thankful that we left the festival when we did. Overall, the first day of the festival was a HOT mess.
How Did Day 2 of the Lovers and Friends Festival Go?
Due to how terrible the first day of the festival went, the festival organizers tried to make improvements for the second day. They allowed people to bring their own water to the festival. We weren’t there the second day, but from what I heard, it was a better experience than day one.
Was the Lovers and Friends Festival Worth it?
It seemed like a good deal at first because there were so many of my favorite artists on the lineup. But, everything felt rushed because the artists had short set times in order to fit them all into the schedule.
Honestly, after having that experience, I would rather see a fewer amount of artists with longer set times and a more intimate setting.
Final tHOUGHTS
Do the festival organizers even care anymore? Lately, we’ve been hearing about festivals and concerts turning into chaos.
There continues to be a lack of concern for the safety and health of the festival goers. You would think that more efforts would be going into the planning but clearly it’s about the money.
For the future concert goer considering whether or not they would go to the next Lovers and Friends festival, keep this in mind:
- If you don’t mind not being able to see every performance and you want to have the full festival experience (including crowds, long wait times, hot weather, etc.), then by all means attend the festival.
- But, if you are expecting a full blown concert from each performer, then pay for the individual artist’s concert.
Did you go to the 2022 Lovers and Friends Festival? If so, how was your experience? Let me know in the comments.
Tiffany Carpenter
Woooow! Soooo sorry this happened on what seemed like a very promising line up of entertainment! The line up had me jealous. I’m glad you missed the scare & stampede thats so dangerous. This is all good future reference info.
tashaonlock
Tiffany CarpenterThanks Tiffany! I know right, I’m glad we made it out safe. I hope that the event management company really reviews their lessons learned from the Lovers and Friends event and plans better for next year.