Michael Omoruan
Rolling Loud was meant to be a fun and chill environment for music fans to jam along to hits by their favorite artists. Unfortunately, a shooting scare left many artists and attendees on edge -- a trend that is increasing problematic for the music festival business overall.
This past weekend kicked off the Rolling Loud music festival in Ontario Place, a local entertainment venue in Ontario, Canada.
The festivities began as fans settled in, and artists took the stage.
It was sometime on Saturday night that the shooting occurred near the VIP area, per the Canadian Press.
A vlog recorded by a YouTuber named Gucci Boy shows concertgoers running frantically as a shot rang out.
Rolling Loud is but one of several hip hop music events with safety issues or violent altercations.
In June, Lil Durk made headlines for shoving a fan during one of his shows in the Netherlands for allegedly insulting the late rapper King Von.
And, of course, the infamous 2021 tragedy that took place at Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert, where nine people were killed, with many more injured.
With issues of violence and safety continuing to plague urban music festivals, the future of music festivals could see a reduction in the quantity and size of these massive events.
Cardi B Clears Up Fight Rumors From Wireless Music Festival
Of course, artists aren’t completely to blame.
In July, Cardi B took to Twitter to clear up fight rumors after a fan got too handsy at the Wireless Music Festival.
The Bronx-born rapper, well-known for her fiery personality, had to let fans know what really went down.
