The controversial music festival Pandemonium Rocks has been plagued with issues, and the kick-off of the event on Thursday was no different.
Attendees were shocked by the space allocated for “accessible viewing.”
The viewing platform for wheelchairs was a caged-off lawn space far back from the stage.
Music lovers were confused and disappointed; some were even insulted.
A collection of photos posted on Facebook by Joel King showed the unfortunate area.
Hundreds commented on the post, most expressing their disappointment.
“Extremely poor effort,” one woman commented.
“Viewing platform? It looks more like a play pen,” another said.
One Wheelchair user expressed annoyance at Pandemonium’s efforts and many music festivals.
“As a wheelchair user who liked to be in the thick of it, I always find disabled viewing areas to be so lame and insulting. Every single one of them, and I’ve been doing festivals since 09.”
A mother shared her concern for her son’s experience in the future.
“This makes me so stressed for my 15-year-old, who’s a wheelie user. We go to plenty of gigs and been fine, but he’s been too young for festivals.”
The outrage continued with people describing the event’s accessibility as a “slap in the face”.
The area came as a shock to attendees as Pandemonium had advertised an accessibility-friendly event.
The festival took place on Thursday evening at Cathy Freeman Park in Sydney.
The event was originally scheduled to be held in Sydney’s CBD on Thursday, but this received major backlash as it occurred near the annual Anzac Day in March.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said: “There is not going to be a rock concert in the middle of the city on Anzac Day.”
This was not the end of the festival’s controversy, which continued on the day of the festival.
Pandemonium Rocks has been contacted for comment.