Astroworld Festival is an annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

run by American rapper and singer Travis Scott, held in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, at

NRG Park NRG Park, formerly Reliant Park and Astrodomain, is a complex in Houston, named after the energy company NRG Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the South Loop West Freeway ( I-610). This complex of buildings encompasses of land and consist ...

, near the former site of

Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of I-610. The park o ...

. The festival was first held in November 2018. The 2020 festival was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Texas The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its ...

. Astroworld Festival 2021 was originally scheduled for November 5–6, 2021. On the first night, a crowd crush occurred, resulting in the deaths of ten people and the cancellation of the second night of the festival. The cause of death for all ten victims was ruled compression asphyxia. This mass casualty event has called action onto performers, venues, security teams, and ticket promoters to ensure better safety for concertgoers. Following the Astroworld Festival, many celebrities and performers wished their condolences to the victims, families, and all that were affected. Astroworld Festival had an effect on Travis Scott's career and brands, as it also highlighted his past recklessness when performing.

History

The festival was launched in 2018, the same year that Scott released his album of the same name. The motivations of the festival were described as “bring ngback the beloved spirit and nostalgia of AstroWorld, making a childhood dream of Travis’ come true.“ The original lineup featured mostly hip-hop artists such as

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. R ...

and Scott himself. Performances generally alternate between two stages called "Thrills" and "Chills" with the "Chills" stage being the larger of the two. The making of the festival as well as the album were the subjects of the 2019

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

original film, '' Look Mom I Can Fly''. The festival returned in 2019 with an expanded lineup. In addition to hip hop artists, artists of other genres such as

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish singer. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. ...

and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

, who perform

nuevo flamenco New flamenco (or ''nuevo flamenco'') or flamenco fusion is a musical genre that was born in Spain, starting in the 1980s. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity and traditional flamenco music with musical fusion (with genres like jazz, blues, roc ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

respectively, added different genres to the festival. The festival was reported to increase in attendance from the 2018 edition, up to 50,000. Prior to the festival, three people were injured in an incident where barricades placed outside the entrance collapsed and fans rushed to enter the festival.Live Nation, a company behind Astroworld, has a long history of safety violations

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

The 2020 festival was canceled due to the

, with a promised return in 2021. Scott partnered with

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...

to produce a

virtual event Virtual may refer to: * Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse * Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels * Virtual function, a programming ...

for its video game ''

Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially re ...

'' entitled "Astronomical", which featured a 15-minute in-game presentation inspired by the ''Astroworld'' album and its visuals (which featured the premiere of Scott's new collaboration with

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

, "

The Scotts "The Scotts" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American hip hop super-duo The Scotts, composed of rappers Travis Scott and Kid Cudi. It was released in various formats, including on 7-inch vinyl, cassette and as a CD single through Epic, Cac ...

"), and in-game challenges, skins, and cosmetic items inspired by Scott. The presentation premiered on April 23, with reruns for different time zones on April 24 and 25. Tickets for the 2021 edition went on sale on May 5, 2021, with the event expanding into a planned two-night festival on November 5 and 6, 2021. Ticket sales for the festival rose to 100,000, double that of 2019. Despite a steep rise in ticket prices, tickets sold out within 30 minutes. A series of events known as "Astroweek" was held to lead into the festival, including celebrity softball and golf events in support of Scott's Cactus Jack Foundation, pop-up stores (including a sneaker collaboration with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

), and the unveiling of a

community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...

at Young Elementary School dedicated to Scott's grandmother (who joined Scott and other family members as part of its ribbon-cutting). Astroweek was to conclude on November 8 with a drive-in screening at the Moonstruck Drive-In Cinema of the film '' Red Rocket'' featuring Scott and appearances by the film's writer Sean Baker, and its cast. The drive-in screening was canceled due to the crowd crush event. At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed in the aftermath of the 2021 festival.

2021 crowd crush

On the night of November 5, about 50,000 people attended the sold out Astroworld Festival. Eight people were killed in a

crowd crush Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse ...

, and a further 11 others went into cardiac arrest, according to Harris County and Houston city officials. At least two more people died later from injuries sustained during the event, bringing the death toll to ten. The crush began around 9:15 p.m. and was declared a mass casualty event by 9:38 p.m. Over 300 people were treated for injuries at the festival related to the crowd crush.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...

was performed by show paramedics on those injured. Despite the presence of ambulances in the crowd, which was noticed by Scott, the performance continued for over thirty minutes past the time that the mass casualty event was declared, with Scott's performance ending around 10:10 or 10:15 p.m. This followed earlier events at around 2 p.m. in which attendees rushed an entrance to the grounds, knocking down security barricades and trampling concert-goers. The earlier crowd atmosphere prompted Houston Police Chief Troy Finner to warn Scott of potential danger in a private meeting prior to the night's performance. The second night of the concert, to be held on November 6, was canceled.

Victims

The Harrison County medical examiner's office said all 10 deaths were due t
compression asphyxia
Franco Patino, 21 John Hilgert, 14 Brianna Rodriguez, 16 Rudy Peña, 23 Danish Baig Jacob E. Jurinek, 20 Alex Acosta, 21 Madison Dubiski, 23 Bharti Shahani, 22 Ezra Blount, 9

Response from Travis Scott and Friends

The morning after the deadly performance, Scott released his initial statement. This statement was posted on Twitter and says "I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All." Nearly a month after the deadly crowd rush, Travis Scott did an interview with

Charlamagne tha God Lenard Larry McKelvey (born June 29, 1978), known professionally as Charlamagne tha God or simply Charlamagne, is an American radio host and television personality. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''The Breakfast Club' ...

which was posted on Youtube on December 9, 2021. During the 50 minute interview, Scott displayed numerous emotions, beginning the interview by claiming he is an "emotional rollercoaster". In the interview, Charlamagne asked many times who the responsibility falls on for the safety of the concertgoers in which Scott replied "professionals". Travis Scott included his timeline of the disaster, saying that he was not aware of the deaths until minutes before the press conference. In addition, he included that he never heard distress from the crowd which would have caused him to stop the show. Scott told Charlamagne that he stopped his performance a couple of times to ensure that his attendees were OK, including that he goes off the fans' energy as a collective and did not hear any distress. Scott offered to cover the funeral costs for all 10 of the victims. According to attorneys of the families, at least 7 of the victims' families rejected his offer. Travis Scott's legal team said the offer to pay for funeral costs would not have any impact on the lawsuits against Scott that were filed by the families. Travis Scott's girlfriend,

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

, was in attendance with her sister

Kendall Jenner Kendall Nicole Jenner (born November 3, 1995) is an American model, media personality, and socialite. She is a daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, and rose to fame in the reality television show ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians.'' Je ...

and daughter

Stormi Webster Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

. On an Instagram story posted by Kylie Jenner she shared her sympathy and condolences to the victims and families. In the story, Kylie Jenner wrote "Travis and I are broken and devastated. My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in any way by yesterday's events." During the performance, Kylie Jenner posted on Instagram multiple videos and pictures where an ambulance can be seen while Scott is performing. In her statement she included that both her and Scott "weren't aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing". Kendall Jenner also released a statement on her Instagram story following the incident. Kendall Jenner's statement said, "I'm truly broken for the families that have lost loved ones and my prayers go out to everyone involved, sending everyone who has been affected all of my love and wishing them strength during this incredibly devastating and sensitive time."

Aftermath

Travis Scott was scheduled to be a headliner at

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

2022, the festival pulled his spot due to the aftermath at Astroworld. In 2021 Scott released Cacti, an agave spiked seltzer, which has stopped all production after Astroworld to focus on the victims and aftermath of the mass casualty. In addition, his partnership with

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...

was delayed as they pulled all Scott's emotes from the gaming platform. There have been around 300 lawsuits filed after Astroworld. The majority of these lawsuits filed have pointed fingers at Scott, Live Nation, promoters, the venue, and the many security companies. Scott has released a new project called Project HEAL. The project is broken down into four categories: "a Waymon Webster HBCU scholarship, an expansion of the CACT.US Youth Design Center, free mental health resources, and a U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force of Event Safety". Project HEAL is funded by Scott himself, a multi-million dollar promise towards the project as well as a portion of his proceeds from his product launches. From Scotts HEAL website, the project will "bring together all of the relevant stakeholders from government, public safety, emergency response, health care, event management, music, and technology. It will be the first time all of these groups and individuals will work together to most effectively address the safety challenges faced by future large-scale events." A year after the crowd rush, Scott released a photo on Instagram with girlfriend,

. He did not comment on the anniversary of the death of 10 innocent victims from Astroworld. Since the mass casualty, Scott has done collaborations with

and

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

Previous Incidents

Scott has held a reputation of recklessness and chaos over the years due to these concerts. In 2015, Scott was performing at LaLaPalooza and encouraged fans to climb over security rails to get onto the stage. Following that incident, Scott pleaded guilty to reckless conduct charges. In 2017, a fan of Scott sued him after a performance in Manhattan. The fan described being pushed from a third story balcony then dragged onto stage with Scott. This resulted in the fan becoming paralyzed. In 2019, at Astroworld, 3 people were hospitalized due to being trampled by the crowd.

Lineups

2021

November 5

All performances occurred at the Thrills stage with the exception of Scott and Drake's combined performance. *

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

Yves Tumor Sean Bowie, best known by the recording alias Yves Tumor, is an American musician and producer of experimental music, born in Miami, Florida and currently based in Turin, Italy. To date, they have released four studio albums: ''When Man Fails Y ...

Toro y Moi Chaz Bear (born Chazwick Bradley Bundick; November 7, 1986), known professionally as Toro y Moi, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He is often recognized as a spearhead of the chillwave genre in the 2010s, ...

Don Toliver Caleb Zackery "Don" Toliver ( ; born June 12, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He released his first major label mixtape, ''Donny Womack'', in August 2018. He is known for his singles "No Idea (song), No Idea" and "After Party ...

Roddy Ricch Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (born October 22, 1998), known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame in 2018 with his single, "Die Young", which peaked at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. R ...

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

* SZA * Travis Scott *

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

(unannounced performance with Travis Scott)

November 6

All November 6 performances were canceled. The following artists had been scheduled to perform: *

Teezo Touchdown Aaron Lashane Thomas (born October 31, 1992), known professionally as Teezo Touchdown, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He released his debut studio album, '' How Do You Sleep at Night?'', on September 8, 2023. He is widel ...

SoFaygo Andre Dontrel Burt Jr. (born October 3, 2001), known professionally as SoFaygo (formerly stylized as $oFaygo), is an American rapper and singer. In 2020, Burt released the ''Angelic 7'' mixtape, which was produced by friend and fellow rapper Lil ...

Maxo Kream Emekwanem Ogugua Biosah Jr. (born March 29, 1990), known professionally as Maxo Kream, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. His debut album ''Punken'' was released in 2018, and the follow-up and major label debut, ''Brandon Banks (album), ...

+ Houston All Stars *

Sheck Wes Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall (born September 10, 1998), known professionally as Sheck Wes, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2017 song "Mo Bamba", which became popular in 2018. Wes is jointly signed to Travis Scott's Cactus Jac ...

* BIA *

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His music first became popular during his teen years in the early 2010s among high school s ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

Baby Keem Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer. He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape ''Di ...

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", wh ...

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

+ YSL

2019

In order of performance. Performances started on the Thrills stage and alternated between it and the Chills stage. *

Tay Keith Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

* Pop Smoke *

Young Dolph Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (July 27, 1985 – November 17, 2021), better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper. In 2016, he released his debut studio album, '' King of Memphis'', which peaked at number 49 on the ''Billboar ...

Key Glock Markeyvius LaShun Cathey (born August 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Key Glock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. A protégé of Young Dolph, he rose to fame in 2017 with his mixtape ''Glock Season''. He is s ...

* Houston All Stars *

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

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Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

Playboi Carti Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, is an American rapper. Carter was initially signed to local underground label Awful Records prior to signing with ASAP Mob's AWGE Label under Interscope R ...

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

* Travis Scott *

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

(unannounced performance during Travis Scott's set)

2018

In order of performance. Performances started on the Chills stage and alternated between it and the Thrills stage.DOORS AT NOON !!!!!!
ASTROWORLD FEST on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

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* Houston All-Stars * Gunna *

Rae Sremmurd Rae Sremmurd ( ; "Drummers Ear" spelled backwards) is an American hip hop duo originating from Tupelo, Mississippi, formed by two brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. In 2013, they signed a record deal with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummers impri ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

* Travis Scott

References

External links

* {{Music venues of Texas Astroworld Festival crowd crush Festivals in Houston Music festivals in Texas Pop music festivals in the United States