Astroworld Festival

On Saturday morning, the music world woke up to the shocking news that eight people had been killed and hundreds had been injured at Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld Festival. The tragic incident is believed to be the result of cramped conditions in the crowd, though an investigation is still underway. Travis issued a response on his social media pages on Saturday, writing, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.” Later that day, he shared another message about the matter on his Instagram Story.

“I just want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night,” he said in a video. “We’re actually working right now to identify the families, so we can help assist them through this tough time. My fans really mean the world to me. I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience.”

He added, “Anytime I could make out, you know, anything that’s going on, you know I stop the show and, you know, help them get the help they need. I could just never imagine the severity of the situation.” Travis also promised to work with the Houston Police Department to “try to get to the bottom of this.” He also asked those in attendance to contact local authorities with any information, concluding, “I’m honestly just devastated. I could never imagine anything like this happening… Love you all.”

The music world woke up to horrifying news about Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld Festival. During the rapper’s solo set on Friday, which closed out the first night of the two-day showcase, chaos broke out within the crowd. A number of concertgoers were trampled and soon found it hard to breathe due to the suffocating atmosphere. At the end of the night, it was revealed that eight people died and hundreds of people were injured as a result of the incident. A number of attendees took to social media to share their thoughts. And now Travis Scott himself has issued a statement on the matter.

“I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night,” he wrote on Twitter “My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.” He added, “I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”

Fire Chief Samuel Peña spoke to reporters late Friday night and went into detail about what happened. “The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” he said. “People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.” He said that at 9:38 PM local time, the incident was then listed as a “mass causality event” and that medical units on hand were “quickly overwhelmed” by the “scores of people” that were treated for injuries.

In total, 17 people were transported to local hospitals, with 11 being treated for cardiac arrest, and more than 300 people were treated on-site at the festival.

After he was forced to cancel last year’s edition of the festival, Travis Scott and his fans were extremely excited for the return of his trademark Astroworld Festival which he launched back in 2018. However, that excitement quickly turned into tragedy and chaos on the showcase’s first day. Houston’s KHOU and the Associated Press report that at least eight deaths and hundreds of injuries occurred during Travis’ solo set to end the first night of the Astroworld Festival. Fire Chief Samuel Peña spoke about the incident during a press conference after the festival on Friday night.

“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” he said to reporters. “People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.” He added that around 9:38 PM local time, the incident became a “mass causality event” as medical units on hand were “quickly overwhelmed” by the “scores of people” that were treated for injuries. Peña confirmed 17 people were transported to local hospitals, including 11 who were under cardiac arrest. A 10-year-old was one of the many people hospitalized as a result of the incident at the festival. In total, more than 300 people were treated on-site at Astroworld.

As a result, Astroworld Festival organizers announced that day two of the showcase is canceled. They also released an official statement on the matter early Saturday morning. “Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight especially those we lost and their loved ones,” they wrote. “We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind the festival will no longer be held on Saturday. As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into the series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @houstonpolice.” They added, “Thank you to our partners at the Houston Police Department, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their response and support.”

A number of posts from fans show the frantic moments that took place inside the crowd as many were left to give CPR to fellow attendees while screaming for help from security and medics. One post went into great detail about the chaos and suffocating atmosphere that was present in the crowd. Another showed attendees’ desperate but unfortunately unsuccessful attempt to grab a cameraman’s attention and notify them of what was happening within the crowd.

You can view the statement from Fire Chief Samuel Peña and Astroworld Festival organizer above. You can also view tweets from attendees below.

Shortly after the release of his third album, Astroworld, in 2018, Travis Scott launched his very own festival under the same name in his hometown of Houston. He delivered two editions of the showcases, one in 2018, the other in 2019 before. The pandemic stopped a third one from happening in 2020. But the festival will be back this year, bowing at the end of the week. As an added treat, Scott announced his first solo set of the weekend will be livestreamed exclusively on Apple Music.

“Travis Scott’s Astroworld: Live” will stream in 167 countries on Friday, November 5 at 7 PM PST/ 10 PM EST, according to a press release. The announcement was made with a brief video that quickly recaps some of the most exciting moments from past Astroworld festivals.

In total, this weekend’s Astroworld Festival will feature performances from 21 Savage, Baby Keem, Bad Bunny, BIA, Chief Keef, Don Toliver, Earth, Wind & Fire, Houston All-Stars, Lil Baby, Master P, Roddy Ricch, Sheck Wes, Sofaygo, SZA, Teezo Touchdown, Toro Y Moi, Tame Impala, Young Thug, and Yves Tumor.

You can view the teaser video for the Astroworld livestream above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Travis Scott‘s Astroworld Festival is making its return this year after being postponed due to COVID safety precautions and the year off did nothing to dull fans’ fervor. According to a press release from Live Nation, the festival’s organizers, tickets to this year’s fest sold out less than an hour after they became available at 10 am CT this afternoon. Even more impressively, neither Scott nor Live Nation has announced a lineup, although the previous fests have included guests like DaBaby, Lil Wayne, Megan Thee Stallion, and Post Malone.

While this year’s lineup will be announced closer to the event dates (November 5-6 at NRG Park in Houston, Texas), one performer is a given: Travis Scott himself. Whether his new album, speculatively titled Utopia, will be out by then is anyone’s guess, but considering how antsy some of Travis’ fellow stars have been to release their delayed 2020 offerings, it’s a safe bet he’ll at least be previewing songs from it, even with a potential setlist full of surefire hits like “Sicko Mode,” “Goosebumps,” and “Franchise.”

As in prior years, Travis’s festival will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Cactus Jack Foundation, which looks to enrich the lives of young people by providing access to education and creative resources. You can learn more about the nonprofit here. Meanwhile, you can stay tuned to Astroworld Festival updates at the official site.