When We Were Young Festival cancelled its first day of performances, citing high winds.
The inaugural Las Vegas emo festival was first announced in January, quickly selling out with acts like My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne slated to perform. This isn't to say that the festival's announcement wasn't met with some skepticism — with some acts claiming they didn't know they were playing, and others questioning Live Nation's ability to safely pull off 60+ acts in 12 hours given the Astroworld tragedy.
On Friday morning, the National Weather Service issued a high wind warning beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday for Las Vegas. WWWY issued a statement saying that the Saturday festival was cancelled less than an hour before gates were due to open.
"When We Were Young Festival organizers have spent the last several days proactively preparing the festival grounds for a windy Saturday," the statement read. "The National Weather Service has now upgraded their Saturday forecast to a High Wind Warning."
"Under advisement of the National Weather Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, we have no other choice than to cancel today's When We Were Young Festival. The safety of our fans, artists, and staff will always be our top priority."
The statement continued, "This was not a decision that came lightly. We know many of you traveled to the area to have a spectacular day with your favorite bands and have been looking forward to this day for months. We were equally as excited and are devastated to have to share this news."
The festival concluded by saying that refunds would be issued "in as little as 30 days" and that Sunday's performances were still planned to go ahead as planned.
As "When We Were Young" began trending on Twitter, some responded with jokes:
Me watching the When We Were Young Fest drama unfold
emos on the strip after the WWWY cancellation
Others, with the inevitable comparisons to Fyre Festival:
People trying to get Sunday tickets for When We Were Young Festival
when we were young netflix special when
And others who claimed they were in Vegas and frustrated at the turn of events:
just took a fucking plane to vegas, booked a fucking hotel, got in full makeup, and when we were young fest just canceled today?!? an hour before the event?!?
Stood at When We Were Young festival to be told it’s cancelled. Great work! Just the 5,500 miles ☺️
In light of the news, My Chemical Romance posted an Instagram story saying they were "sorry" about the cancelation:
And Taking Back Sunday told everyone to "stay safe."
