Toronto's Kultureland Is Being Compared To Fyre Festival & It Looked Like A Mess (PHOTOS)
The festival unexpectedly swapped venues from Markham to Ajax.
Kultureland Festival in Ajax.
Kultureland Festival just happened over the weekend in Toronto, and it was apparently so chaotic that concertgoers are comparing it to the infamously mismanaged Fyre Festival. Yikes.
On August 6 and 7, the country's "biggest Afro-fusion weekend" was set to take over Markham Fairgrounds with headliners Burna Boy and Jhené Aiko slated to perform. In the first Instagram post, Kultureland said there would be over 20 "Afro, Latin, and Caribbean acts."
[tiktok_embed https://www.tiktok.com/@narcitytoronto/video/7129560404040207621?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1⟨=en expand=1 site_id=21132993 embed_desktop_width=605 embed_desktop_height=150 embed_mobile_width=375 embed_mobile_height=150]While musicians were able to perform in Markham on Saturday, the venue abruptly changed to Ajax Downs Race Track on Sunday at 4 p.m., with doors expected to open at 6 p.m.
"Due to Unforseen Circumstances combined we are moving Day 2 of the Festival and will have doors open at 6 pm. Please do not go to Markham Fairgrounds," the notice reads on their Instagram Stories.
An hour after the venue change announcement, Kultureland posted another IG story to alert concertgoers that some artists pulled out of the festival.
"Due to circumstances out of our control, Stonebwoy, Fireboy, Lojay, and Kamo Mphela will not be able to perform today," the post reads, and they apologized for the inconvenience.
"ALL OTHER ARTIST ARE HERE AND PREPARED TO PERFORM AT KULTURELAND!"
That ended up not being the case.
Jhené Aiko pulls out of Kultureland
"Unfortunately, Our headliner for the night will not be able to perform. As we all know Today has been a wild sequence of events, however it is our intentions to give you the best experience we can offer; despite the circumstances," another IG story announcement reads, which broke the news that Aiko would no longer be performing.
"We are truly sorry and wish we could have presented you with the Jhené Aiko performance you deserved. Her show required a level of visuals that we could not have technically produced in a short period of time."
\u201cWOW @KulturelandFest JUST SCAMMED US. Jhene didn\u2019t even show up and they just shut down\u2026.\u201d— X-cessive (@X-cessive) 1659932419
One concertgoer shared with Narcity that the way the festival handled Aiko's absence was "the worst part."
"As the headliner and one of the most well-known artists scheduled to perform, people paid mostly (if not only) to see her," Tuktuk, who didn't share her last name with Narcity, said.
"At 11pm, after the crowd chanting 'Jhene, Jhene' every few minutes, the people on stage said that she would be on her way. By midnight, they very rudely told the crowd that she would not be coming and to go home."
The festival looked like a mess
Many festivalgoers took to social media to share their frustrations about how Kultureland panned out.
\u201cOhh I see now, it was never #Kultureland \u2026 it was #fyrefestival making a come back #JArulewhereyouat \ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udc40\u201d— \ud83d\udc51Princess.Salt\ud83d\udc51 (@\ud83d\udc51Princess.Salt\ud83d\udc51) 1659933101
"Ohh I see now, it was never #Kultureland … it was #fyrefestival making a come back #JArulewhereyouat," one Twitter user wrote.
\u201cfinna go to kultureland but only to record footage to sell to netflix\u201d— kultureland organizer (@kultureland organizer) 1659897961
Another user, who temporarily changed their name to kultureland organizer, joked that they were going to go down to Kultureland just to record the footage to later sell to Netflix.
\u201cAfter 11 hours. A whole venue change to another city. Several time changes. Half the artists dropping out. 0 headliners performing yet. 0 accountability from the organizers. #Kultureland better be giving refunds\u201d— Tuktuk (@Tuktuk) 1659928789
"After 11 hours. A whole venue change to another city. Several time changes. Half the artists dropping out. 0 headliners performing yet. 0 accountability from the organizers. #Kultureland better be giving refunds," Tuktuk tweeted.
VIP section at Kultureland.VIP section at Kultureland.
Narcity's Valerie Durocher, who attended the festival, shared a nearly empty VIP section on Sunday night, which had a bunch of stacked foldable chairs and some low tables in the fenced area.
The crowd shouting "refund" at Kultureland.The crowd shouting "refund" at Kultureland.
At one point, the crowd chanted "Refund" as they waited for performers to come onstage. One of the performers, B Young, even took to Twitter to say: "Toronto, I know Kultureland was a mess but I'll be back soon."
Narcity reached out to Kultureland Festival for comment but didn't hear back before this article was published.