Hinterland flooded with complaints about packed crowds, lack of water on Friday

Hinterland is off to a hot, miserable start for some festivalgoers hoping to get an experience of a lifetime.

Those hoping to see stars like Chappell Roan, Noah Kahan, Vampire Weekend and more have to brave a heat index of around 100 degrees, crowds and not enough water, attendees told the Register.

Hinterland announced some changes Saturday morning, including expanding water options, in response to complaints. But, one attendee told the Register that the usual festival atmosphere is gone this year.

"Attendees are furious about how unsafe the conditions are within the festival grounds as well as in the parking lots and waiting in line to get in," Hinterland attendee Joy Ott wrote in an email to the Register. "I’ve attended the last 6 years and this year is significantly worse than anything I’ve seen before."

Hinterland goes until late Sunday night.

Packed crowds made Hinterland feel 'much hotter' on Friday

Friday's set featured more than just Hozier, Orville Peck and Hippo Campus — a heat index of almost 100 degrees made an appearance, too.

"The heat was pretty bad," Hannah Rublaitus, 30, from Des Moines told to the Register. "I work outside during the summer at camps but being out for that long with minimal water was difficult ... when you add thousands and thousands of people squished together on a 90-degree day it feels much hotter."

Friday night's setlist included headliner Hozier at 9:30 p.m., but even then, it was too hot.

Maggie Canero, a fan of the Irish singer, gave up halfway through her favorite singer's set because of the heat. "He was struggling to get through the heat as well, even at 9:30 p.m.," she said in a social media message to the Register.

Multiple HInterland acts interrupted by medical issues Friday

A Register journalist at the event Friday said there was at least one stoppage in almost every set.

During the set of Hippo Campus, an American indie rock band from Saint Paul, Minnesota, the band stopped the same song twice for medical attention.

"Every set that I saw had to be stopped multiple times because of people passing out and needing medical attention," Rublaitus said.

Hinterland provides its own medical services, with first aid tents on the festival grounds. Numbers for how many were treated or transported to area hospitals for heat issues were not immediately available.

Friday's temperatures reached up to 89 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Saturday is expected to reach up to 92 degrees and 94 degrees on Sunday. Skies are expected to be clear allowing the sun to beat down.

Attendees concerned there isn't enough water to go around at Hinterland

Hinterland festival grounds feature five watering stations and 12 more scattered throughout designated camping areas, according to the festival's map. Hinterland's social media accounts were flooded with comments calling for more water stations to be available.

"I probably waited at least 30 minutes for water. And I got it earlier in the day too. I can’t imagine what it was like later," Rublaitus said. "I felt like I had to ration my water so I wouldn’t have to wait in lines ... I almost felt trapped."

Hinterland updated its food and drink policy on Saturday morning to allow water to be brought in to the festival.

"Outside water IS allowed inside the festival grounds the rest of the weekend. Bring your own bottle filled with water, or a factory-sealed water bottle, and keep refilling at water stations throughout the grounds," the update on the Hinterland website said .

Hinterland crowds overpack festival grounds, backlog exits and parking, attendees say

The Hinterland festival grounds span about 1.5 miles from end to end, "so be prepared to walk," according to the website.

"There was basically never a time where you weren’t surrounded by people within 6 inches of you and even while in line for things people had to constantly break through to move to any other place," Canero said.

For some, it may have taken hours to leave the festival Friday night.

"The shuttles were going back and forth but only about 40 people could get on a bus at a time," Canero said. "I heard it took until sunrise for some people to get back."

The Register could not confirm this statement and officials from Hinterland only pointed the Register to the update on its website that said it was "continuously making adjustments to keep lines moving and to get everyone into the festival safely and quickly."

"I would say the worst part is there’s no ability to move around because there’s too many people," Abby Ludwig, 22, Des Moines, told the Register. "It causes clogging so there’s no way to even walk around or sit comfortably and there’s huge lines for everything. There’s nowhere to go to escape the crowd."

Several comments from attendees on recent social media posts from Hinterland say they won't be coming back.

"Yesterday just put such a bad taste in my mouth," Rublaitus said. "With all of the complaints, the only thing they’ve changed is adding more water stations and saying you can bring your own water into the venue. If they were offering more changes and accommodations I might consider going, but with the crowds and heat as guarantees I don’t think I would."

'It didn't feel like we were at a festival' long-time attendee says

Amber Wallingford, 35, Des Moines, has never missed a day of Hinterland since its first year in 2015.

"I've never missed a day for any reason," she said. "It's my favorite weekend of the entire year."

Living in Iowa, Wallingford doesn't always get to see the artists she loves.

"Hinterland makes me feel lucky to live in Iowa ... this is my home and I'm proud to live here," she said. "For three days, it doesn't matter what's going on in your actual life. You're in a field listening to good music, hanging out with your friends and eating good food from a food truck."

But this year is different.

"The biggest thing I noticed was like it didn't feel like we were at a festival, like the whole point of Hinterland is just vibing and having fun.

"But you didn't see any relaxing. There was no space for people to dance," she continued. "No one was frolicking. There was no space to frolic. You were just ... you were just a body in a field. You weren't there to have fun. You were just trying to survive."

Wallingford plans to make the trek to St. Charles to see Chappell Roan on Sunday because she "is worth possibly getting heat stroke." However, she's hesitant to come back in the future.

"I love live music, but I've spent all this money, and VIP was double the price," she said. "Unless it's an artist I might not see anywhere else, I'm probably not going to go to Hinterland next year."

Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@dmreg.com

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hinterland flooded with complaints about packed crowds, lack of water on Friday