News feed
On the surface, Revolve Festival looked like an influencer’s carnival-inspired, glossy dream. A VVVIP guest list that included Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and Olivia Culpo, an activation from Kendall Jenner’s buzzy tequila brand, Drink 818, and performers spanning Jack Harlow to Post Malone. Of course, attendees at the invitation-only event – a who’s who of Instagram and TikTok – were dressed in a cool girl wardrobe of For Love and Lemons and Majorelle, styled straight from Revolve’s look book.
Revolve Festival is basically a mini-Coachella, held on the sprawling Merv Griffin Estate in La Quinta, California. This year’s event – the first since 2019 after Coachella was postponed several times due to the pandemic – has been labelled “Fyre Festival 2.0” by a string of irate influencers, who have put Revolve on blast. Taking to social media, the event was described as “absolute chaos”, “shocking”, “dangerous” and a “giant PR influencer disaster”. So what actually happened?
In a post that has gone viral, TikToker and law student Averie Bishop described it as borderline violent, with “pushing” and “fighting”. “The only way you can get to Revolve Festival is if you take a specific shuttle to their grounds,” Bishop explained on TikTok. “I didn’t even get into the festival … I waited in line for two hours. There was pushing, shoving, shouting … people standing in between the buses. Sorry Revolve, but I really hope you take into consideration everyone’s safety and security next year.” Writing on Instagram, Bishop said that what she found most “shocking” about the experience was “the influencers acting as if people weren’t fighting for their lives and instead, posted on social media like nothing happened”. She said she witnessed crowds being “trampled, pushed, shoved and … dangerously close to being hit by buses”.
@averiebishop I hope you made it to the festival @kate bartlett !! #revolvefestival @revolve
Per The Cut, another TikToker Kristi Howard called the festival a “shitshow”, saying she waited “five hours for a shuttle before eventually being told to leave”. “I flew out there thinking I had this big opportunity for my career,” Howard told The Cut. Los Angeles magazine’s Joseph Kapsch tweeted that the drama “sinks to the level of Fyre Festival”, with “influencers stranded in the dirt with no water” as well as “alleged fights and screaming”.
BREAKING @LAMag #Coachella Dispatch: Sources on the ground telling us there is apparently drama going down at Revolve Festival, that "sinks to level of Fryre Festival." Influencers stranded in the dirt with no water, under the hot sun for HOURS, waiting for buses that aren't…
— Joseph Kapsch (@JosephKapsch) April 17, 2022
Revolve has since “sincerely” apologised for the choas. In a statement, the Los Angeles-based fashion site said: “We sincerely apologize (sic) to all the guests who were impacted”. “As the festival was reaching capacity late Saturday afternoon, shuttle access to the venue was limited in order to remain in compliance with safety requirements, causing longer wait times for entry and resulting in some guests not being able to attend the festival.”
@queenofgettingbanned Reply to @dopeyh I know the @revolve staff worked so hard to pull this off! It looked so cute. However I’m just being honest & sharing my experience & frustration #revolvefestival
Sounds like it was a true case of Instagram versus reality. GRAZIA has reached out to Revolve for further comment.
