Despite eliciting two documentaries, a prison sentence for Billy McFarland, and Ja Rule’s iconic tweet about being hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hoodwinked, and led astray, the team behind last weekend’s Electric Zoo Festival in New York City clearly learned nothing from the doomed Fyre Festival, their multi-night event resulting in a series of disasters.


Mere hours before major acts like Galantis, Excision, and every 2016 frat boy’s favorite duo, The Chainsmokers, were set to take the festival’s various stages on Friday, the event organizers decided to pull the plug on Day 1.


Citing vague “supply chain issues,” their reasons for canceling Friday’s event rang incredibly hollow, especially as images of the festival’s half-built mainstage taken earlier in the week began circulating on social media.



“I don't believe a word of this excuse,” redditor u/christinasays commented on a post shared to New York City rave subreddit  r/avesNYC. 


“There's no way AG is gonna give up all this money in sales over one uncompleted stage. Something else must be going on that they're trying to cover up,” they continued, arguing that “they had to have known for some time that this was going to happen, but they chose to carry on up until this morning like everything was fine.”


“No way they would make this decision last minute,” added u/NotThatGuyKyle, while u/bedtyme denounced the event’s  “poor planning.”


But even with this widespread skepticism — and shambled stages  — the Electric Zoo overlords avowed that they would find a way to make the next two days “truly magical.”


“Starting from 1pm on both days, we look forward to uniting with all of you to celebrate life and music, and dance through the sunset with the iconic backdrop of the New York skyline, right in the heart of New York City,” they wrote on Instagram after reiterating the difficulty of their decision to cancel Friday’s show. “Let’s come together, stronger than before, to create moments that will be etched in our memories forever.”



And they weren’t wrong. Electric Zoo would become etched in attendees’ memories … for all the wrong reasons. On Sunday evening, the event lived up to its name after crowds reached capacity around 6:30 p.m., long before several of the event's headliners were set to take the stage.



“It is with deep regret that we need to inform you that due to the challenges caused by Friday cancelation [sic] we have reached our venue's capacity earlier than anticipated for today, Sunday,” the event organizers wrote on Twitter, adding that they would “not be admitting any additional attendees today.”



Despite “kindly” asking attendees en route to “refrain from coming to the festival site,” several of those already on Randall’s Island refused to take no for an answer, storming the security gates and bursting onto the festival grounds.


@502akatsuki #ezoo #outofcontrol #ezoo2023 #electriczoofestival #fyp #fy #viral #viralvideo #randallisland #newyork #nyc #ny ♬ original sound - Akatsuki



“When E Zoo turns into a real Zoo,” TikToker @502akatsuki captioned their viral clip of possibly hundreds of ravers storming the festival.


So take it from the Electric Zoo organizers — if you’re gonna call your event a zoo, you better be ready for some party animals.