Splendour in the Grass apology for six-hour bus queue is lashed by fed-up festivalgoers

Splendour in the Grass has issued an apology for wild bus queues that meant some festivalgoers didn’t get home until 6am - and it hasn’t gone down well.

Fed-up Aussies have lashed out at Splendour in the Grass organisers after they issued a blunt statement apologising for bus queues that left thousands stranded for hours in the cold.

Revellers were forced to wait for up to six hours in crowded, muddy lines just to get on a bus out of North Byron Parklands on Saturday night after The Strokes' headline set at the festival.

Some exhausted festivalgoers who had pre-booked transport to get to their accommodation in nearby towns didn’t get home until after 6am on Sunday despite the festival wrapping up before midnight.

Splendour organisers took to social media today to apologise, blaming the lengthy delays on “bus driver shortages” and insisting only 1,000 people were affected.

“We hear you and we understand your frustration with our bus services last night,” Splendour wrote in a statement.

“Our event site closes at 2am and 90% of our bus patrons were offsite by 3:30am, like it was in 2019.

“Unfortunately, some of our Tweed routes experienced extended delays due to bus driver shortages.”

But for many, the apology fell short, with furious attendees who spent up to $650 for tickets to the three-day festival accusing organisers of making up “excuses” and downplaying how many people were impacted.

A message about Splendour bus services pic.twitter.com/u6ABmF6vXq

— SplendourintheGrass (@SITG) July 24, 2022

Nightmare: This trio were still left stranded at Splendour at 4am after hours in a bus queue. They eventually arrived home at 6am. Picture: TikTok

Another group who booked an Airbnb in a nearby town got home at 6.14am as the sun rose. Picture: TikTok

“There is a limit of what number of excuses you can continue to use. Accept responsibility that you have not run the festival properly and apologise for that,” wrote Kiri Finlay.

“While the music was incredible, your festival sucks. It was so poorly organised it appears you don’t actually care. Caring means resourcing the event adequately. You have to over resource so you have contingency to fall back on,” complained Paul Robertson.

“I knew this was going to be an issue on Friday, when you had TWO buses to transport thousands of people to and from the venue,” added Liams David.

Another fuming festivalgoer claimed she had only seen three cans of water being passed around as the queues became “dangerous”, revealing she had heard “several desperate cries out for medics.”

“I was so frightened of being crushed in the bus crowd last night with peoples desperation escalating as the morning approached. No crowd control and no staff in sight! Thank god there were no casualties,” she wrote.

Revellers were forced to wait for hours to get a bus after Splendour on Saturday night. Picture: TikTok

One woman claimed she was trapped in a line for six hours. Picture: TikTok

One woman who waited in the line for six hours took to TikTok to call out Splendour organisers on Sunday.

“There was no food in the line, people were suffering. You couldn’t sit down because of how muddy it was, and the only water there was were these little cans that were being passed back. People literally had to take the tiniest sip and pass it along,” she explained.

“We know there were people who left before the final act - so they had been lining up for a bus from 10.30pm to about 6am - because they wanted to miss the rush.
“These were all pre-booked tickets, they knew exactly how many people needed to catch those buses. Honestly not even sure we’re going to go back today because it’s not worth the wait.”

Hundreds of other furious Splendour attendees took to social media to call out the festival organisers, questioning how they had failed to plan for large crowds leaving the festival site.

Revellers did their best to stay dry with gumboots as the rain relented on Saturday. (Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)

Splendour’s problems have not just been limited to queues for transport home.

The festival was forced to cancel all headline acts on Friday after relentless rain turned the site into a flooded marsh.

Rideshare prices skyrocketed as the festival closed its campgrounds and moved some revellers to nearby campsites.

Uber costs for drop-offs to the festival soared as high as $250 on Friday night, – with some popular camping areas around Byron Bay and Mullumbimby experiencing a shortage of Uber rides on Saturday.

The high demand has meant many festivalgoers who forked out savings for tickets, supplies, accommodation and other festival fees have taken to social media in an attempt to split the cost of travel.

A 25-minute journey on Uber from Splendour cost $249.37 as fares skyrocketed due to demand. Picture: Supplied

Many who had to make the trek back from Splendour after a miserable day one noted the high rideshare prices.

Posting to Facebook group ‘Splendour In The Grassers 2022’ on Friday night, Riley Lynch was unimpressed by the $150 dollar cost on the way back from Splendour to Byron Bay.

Others shared screenshots of their Uber trips after being slugged $250 for a 25-minute journey out of the festival grounds.

The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)

The sky-high prices come after extreme weather saw day one of the festival cancelled.

Thousands of festivalgoers were forced to retreat to Byron Bay after main stage acts, including headliners Gorillaz as well as the Avalanches and Kacey Musgraves, were cancelled as hectic weather turning turned the festival site into a flooded swamp.

The unlucky ticketholders who had to trek through muddy water were promised refunded tickets.

With the rain relenting, organisers are hoping the final day of Splendour will run smoothly as tens of thousands gather to watch rapper Tyler, The Creator headline after sets by Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher and British star Aitch.