Revolve has sincerely apologized for the event that was deemed a ‘complete disaster’ by influencers.

Held the same weekend as Coachella, Revolve Festival is a star-studded, invitation-only event — but this year it took a turn for the worst and was deemed “unsafe” by the influencers invited.

Since its initiation in 1999, thousands of people have flocked to Indio, California, to attend Coachella, a six-day music festival in the California desert. With the rise of social media, Coachella has also become less of a music festival, and more of a  fashion show or a place to be seen on the internet.

Alongside Coachella are branded events. One of those events being Revolve Festival, hosted by the clothing brand Revolve.

Launched in 2015, Revolve Festival is an invitation-only party held on the first weekend of Coachella. Revolve Festival is not affiliated with Coachella.

The press release for this year promised an alluring experience. Drinks from Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand, 818; food from the California luxury supermarket Erewhon; free shopping experiences from sponsoring brands (including a LaCroix booth and a Spotify cafe) performances by Post Malone, Jack Harlow and Willow Smith; and a pink swing set.

This year’s Revolve Festival saw many celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Sydney Sweeney and Halsey. But some of those who did not have as big of names struggled to reach the event. According to some influencers, the event was not what the press release promised.

TikTok creator Mandi Awadis said in a post that “It was a disaster,”. Mandi shared in detail the experience of getting checked in and obtaining wristbands ahead of the event. “There were 10 people in front of us. It took them an hour to get those 10 people in,” she said. She also claimed insufficient security measures: “There were metal detectors … but no one was taking care of them checking peoples’ purses. We were just going through.”

The biggest trouble was related to transportation and capacity. Revolve Festival is held in a nearby town to Palm Springs, California — in La Quinta. The only way to reach this year’s Revolve Festival was by shuttle, which picked invitees up in a parking lot a mile and a half from the event. The only way to enter Revolve Festival is by these shuttles, there is no address or directions otherwise.

While waiting for the buses to the party on Saturday, some influencers were stuck outside in the SoCal heat for hours, without water. Awadis said that people were “dehydrated and passing out,” and claimed that her sister asked for water, but her request was denied at first. According to Awadis, fights broke out in the parking lot as well.

In her video Awadis detailed: “Every time a shuttle came, people would mob the shuttles. They would either put a halt to everything or the shuttle would just drive off with nobody in it.”

TikTok creator @madisoncrowleyphoto shared a video of people trying to crowd onto a shuttle.

On Tuesday, Revolve issued a statement responding to the situation “sincerely (apologizing)” to those impacted.

The statement explained how the brand worked “closely” with city and safety authorities to “ensure a safe and secure path” for guests to attend the highly anticipated event.

The statement explained why guests had to wait in a parking lot for a shuttle. According to city regulations, per the statement, an event of this size required an “off-site location for guest check-in and parking,” as well as shuttle transportation. The statement said the off-site lot was equipped with rideshare drop-off and pickup access, restrooms, shade, water, medics and security.

The statement explains that Revolve Festival became crowded, and shuttle service slowed down, resulting in the conditions captured in the videos.

“As the festival was reaching capacity late Saturday afternoon, shuttle access to the venue was limited in order to remain in compliance with safety requirements causing longer wait times for entry and resulting in some guests not being able to attend the festival,” the statement said.

The statement ended with an apology: “The safety of our guests is of the utmost importance to us and we will always make that a priority. We sincerely apologize to all the guests who were impacted. We always strive to provide a great experience and we promise to do better.”

So what do you think? Is Revolve Festival the new Fyre Festival?

Published by HOLR Magazine.