A petition is circulating online calling for refunds and an apology from the organisers of the Listen In music festival, with attendees saying it was overcrowded and unsafe.

Following the event in Auckland on Friday, social media was flooded with complaints saying poor management had led to injuries and disrupted performances. 

The Listen In festival is a seven-hour show featuring some of the world’s biggest up-and-coming hip hop and electronic artists.

Rebeka Rose had attended the 2019 Listen In and thinks a lot of this year’s problems came from it being far more crowded than previously. 

“They had two stages, so they must have thought they could sell more tickets. But everyone went to the main stage so it felt like there was double the amount of people.”

“It was really busy and chaotic. There were way too many people.”

@porisnz #centralcee #doja #listenin #auckland #nzfestival #listenout #nz ♬ Doja - Central Cee

Director of Auckland Stadiums James Parkinson said there were more than 30,000 people at the event. 

The 2019 concert had around 20,000 attendees in the same venue, he said.

Rose said the crowd was so concentrated that the mosh pit spread at least half way through the stadium.

“We decided to stay at the side, and we saw a lot of people hobbling off injured after being trampled.”

They saw a group of five girls fall but couldn’t find any security to help, Rose said.

“I saw no police, barely any security. There were people fighting, the mosh pit was huge and security couldn’t get to the middle. It was dangerous.”

Parkinson said there were 300 security staff, 40 police officers, 47 St John medical personnel and drug checking services from KnowYourStuffNZ.

St John treated 138 people for issues ranging from dehydration to drug and alcohol intoxication, he said. The 2019 event with fewer attendees saw 186 people treated by St John medics.

“As the venue provider we are confident that the event was run safely.”

“Safety is our number one priority.  Security and St John medics assisted any patrons that required help.”

Unhappy party-goers

Rose said the intensity of people compounded all the other issues attendees experienced, such as a 45-minute line for the bar, and the heavy rain with no cover.

Parkinson said logs of the catering crew show the longest wait for the bar was half an hour, and that the average wait time was under 20 minutes.

And then the acts themselves were disrupted, Rose said, with Central Cee’s act cut to three songs and shortening several others.

“We waited 55 minutes with no music, then AJ Tracey came on and said ‘My set has been cut in half’.”

“[The acts] were making fun of the management on stage saying ‘This is ridiculous and poorly managed’.”

A Listen In spokesperson said via email Central Cee’s set was cut short “due to the unsafe behaviour of a small number of the audience”.

To try and maintain a safe environment the interval between acts was extended, but they said “all other acts were able to play uninterrupted sets”.

Rose said halfway through the event she was fed up with how things were running,  and looking around she said she wasn’t the only one.

“You could see everyone felt like that. We were all like ‘Are you serious?’”

“It was a poorly managed event. It felt like it was run by someone who had never run a concert before.”

Attendees shared their displeasure on social media, with one commenter saying “Why tf did I buy a $160 ticket to stand in the pouring rain listening to Mai FM vibe music for the majority of the night between the most averagely organised sets. Refund”.

Rose said, like many others on social media, she would like a refund for the concert.

“I want a refund because I didn’t see the acts I paid for and felt unsafe.” 

“We felt like they didn't care if we were miserable because they had our money now.”

Listen In management didn’t respond to our questions about whether they would be offering refunds.