Thousands of revelers were evacuated this weekend when Chicago’s Lollapalooza was temporarily interrupted by severe weather. With total festival attendance estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, the evacuation went relatively smoothly, though with some confusion. Attendees took to social media to document the flood of bodies headed to the three designated emergency shelters, with local TV host Marcus Leshock comparing the event to the film ‘Sharknado,’ and stating that “People seem to be going in different directions. Asked security where to go and they said to find an officer.”
MTV reports that “there weren’t any cancellations as a result of the hold-up. The schedule was updated by festival organizers and each artist was pushed back about 45 minutes.” Meanwhile, Lollapalooza released a statement explaining that their “first priority is always the safety of our fans, staff and artists,” and apologizing for the inconvenience: “We regret having to suspend any show, but safety always comes first.”
Check out the photos and videos below to see exactly what it looks like when hundreds of thousands of people make a relatively orderly exit from a music festival:
#Lollapalooza evacuation at a crawl near the Perry’s stage. Starting to get darker. pic.twitter.com/npbvra2HfJ
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) August 2, 2015
People seem to be going in different directions. Asked security where to go and they said to find an officer. #lolla pic.twitter.com/d4XONrZQL0 — Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) August 2, 2015
“This is just like Sharknado,” says one #lollapalooza evacuee. pic.twitter.com/vcX5kNTSTX
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) August 2, 2015
#Lolla reopened, line to get back in a claustrophobic nightmare. pic.twitter.com/43DAFuokca — Evin Billington (@EvinBillington) August 2, 2015
This looks fun. #lolla pic.twitter.com/8a0QVIMX4b
— Coy Peterman (@Coypeterman) August 2, 2015
@lollapalooza sorry. No they are not. Yikes. They all ran up like the gates were open. pic.twitter.com/bRZmGlmu96 — Denise Stanley (@CrakMeUp) August 2, 2015
