Fez – World Sacred Music Festival organizers issued earlier this week a press statement in response to complaints from fans at the highly anticipated Sami Yusuf concert last Saturday.
The sold-out Sami Yusuf performance was marred by fan frustration and disappointment as several attendees found themselves unable to access the venue despite having purchased tickets in advance. The fans’ reaction even prompted the artist to put out a message on his Instagram account, calling the organization a “deplorable situation.”
Witnesses described scenes of confusion and disorder at the concert venue, where a number of frustrated attendees also gathered near the front of the stage during the beginning of the performance in protest, resisting efforts by security to remove them until seats were provided.
Read also: Overcrowding and Ticketing Issues Mar Anticipated Sami Yusuf Concert
In their statement, the organizers said that the concert saw a record turnout of 5,000 spectators and “that a relatively small number of spectators were unable to access the show and deeply regret the disappointment of these fans.”
They also claimed that venue capacity quotas were set because of public safety concerns. However, the statement made no mention as to what the contingency measures were when ticket-holding spectators could not be admitted to the venue.
The festival organizers’ statement also indicated that they would be reaching out to “concerned festival-goers to provide all necessary clarifications and appropriate responses.”
However, the statement made no mention of compensation, something Sami Yusuf had called for in his original Instagram post In the slightly edited version of his Instagram post, Sami Yusuf appeared to tone down his earlier — and much more firm — compensation demand for fans. The artist also told fans to reach out to contact.venue.bm24@gmail.com to get in touch with festival organizers.
