The Sandz Caribbean Music Festival made its London stop in the United Kingdom on Sunday as the festival continues its world tour. However, the event was plagued by issues, igniting anger among its patrons as well as headliner Vanessa Bling.
Performances by dancehall artistes Aidonia and Vanessa Bling were advertised as the main event at the music festival, which was staged in South London’s Addington Park in Croydon. However, the thousands that gathered at the venue were only able to experience a fraction of the time the headliners had been scheduled to perform.
Time constraints saw both artiste’s performance time being cut short, and the matter was further worsened due to apparent technical issues. Vanessa had stepped confidently onto the Sandz stage, singing her hit One Man, but her backing music was cut off shortly after.
The singer ended up performing most of her brief set a cappella, and according to reports, her microphone was repeatedly shut off. In videos shared online, the artiste can be seen performing her single Future Guaranteed a cappella.
However, her microphone seemingly cut off, causing angry shouts from patrons who apparently could not hear her. As patrons began to boo, Vanessa threw away her mic and left the stage, which caused even more boos from her fans.
Despite the technical glitches, the artiste later returned to the stage and was momentarily joined by Aidonia. The deejay was only able to perform a few of his songs before the lights were cut off and the event came to an unexpected end.
After the music festival came to an abrupt end, chaos unfolded, with patrons hurling bottles at the stage. According to the event’s organisers, several factors contributed to the issues at the festival, including attendees blocking a train line with their vehicles and entering the venue illegally.
The organisers disclosed that the police ultimately chose to end the music festival before the artistes could finish performing due to the unruly behaviour of patrons who forced their way inside.
Watch the video below.
