BURNET, Texas — Organizers with the Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet released a statement on Wednesday to address rumors going around social media after the event was canceled early due to severe weather.
Festivalgoers at the event, which was set to run through Tuesday, were asked to leave after the eclipse on Monday because of severe weather and the risk of hail, damaging winds and heavy rain. On Tuesday morning, there was a lightning strike on the festival site, and heavy storms arrived by mid-morning, the festival said.
On Tuesday, 27 additional buses were secured to shuttle festivalgoers from the event site to Austin twice.
“We would have gotten more if they were available,” organizers said.
The statement said by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, 99% of guests had left the site safely and avoided the risk created by the storms. The event was not canceled for insurance money and Texas Eclipse Festival will take a “significant financial loss,” according to organizers.
“Our primary goal was to avoid a weather-triggered disaster and we accomplished it,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the festival said it is “working diligently” with its ticket provider to deliver more information about partial refunds and an update will be provided soon. A significant number of guests purchased using payment plans, which has complicated the process.
Rumors that the show was oversold and overcapacity are not true, Texas Eclipse Festival said, with an approved permit for 40,000 people from Burnet County and an attendance “well under that number.”
The festival said rumors of multiple deaths are also inaccurate. One person died at the hospital after being transported from the festival, but more details will not be released out of respect for the person’s family's privacy and HIPAA guidelines.
Texas Eclipse Festival also addressed complaints about long wait times for entry into the campsite, saying the varying elevation of the site prompted real-time adaptations to its plans and logistics.
“The site’s unique terrain resulted in a slower camping load-in process and other challenges,” the festival said. “We apologize for the impact that this had on your camping experience.”
Organizers also apologized to guests who had issues locating water and clean port-a-potties, saying the scale and complexity of the festival site led to operations delays in what was planned to be 24-hour service.
The full statement can be found on the festival’s website.