sweet escape music festival in downtown regina leaves bitter taste
"we want to sincerely apologize for all the attendees who felt disappointed or cheated."
sep 3 2024
3 minute read
a poster for the sweet escape festival is posted at the university of regina on tuesday, september 3, 2024 in regina.
kayle neis
/
regina leader-post
what was supposed to be a sweet musical escape in victoria park on the weekend came to a “chaotic” end marked by staffing issues, physical altercations and reports to police that artists were not getting paid.
the sweet escape music festival took place aug. 30 and 31, headlined by rap and hip-hop artists polo g and fat joe. the inaugural event was organized by phoenix entertainment in collaboration with origami barber shop and moeboxfit studio. tickets for the two-day, all-ages event ran from $79 to $309 and organizers said more than 1,500 tickets were sold.
the regina police service (rps) confirmed there were issues with staff, security and entertainers not being paid on the second day of the festival, which organizers said tuesday had since been rectified.
“as first-time organizers, we had high expectations of providing an event that could be enjoyed by everybody,” said one of the festival’s organizers, jeremy lauagan, in an interview tuesday.
“we want to sincerely apologize for all the attendees who felt disappointed or cheated,” added fellow organizer simon tekeste.
festival-goer jaiden friars said the event on friday seemed like any other festival but, on saturday, things got “a little chaotic.”
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“as it started getting busier, that’s when it started getting more rowdy,” said friars on tuesday. “that’s when i started feeling a little bit uncomfortable because i realized there was no security.
“if anything were to go wrong, it kind of felt like it was up to us to handle it.”
friars noted the beer gardens were closed all of saturday due to security challenges, making their drink tickets useless. friars said they were not reimbursed for the tickets, which cost $10 apiece.
she witnessed multiple fights with pushing and shoving as the crowd became more aggressive.
“it didn’t leave a very good impression,” she added.
organizers had originally planned to hold the festival in wascana park but a change of venue to victoria park was announced just seven days before the event.
in a post-festival statement on tuesday, the city of regina said it “provided assistance beyond what is customary to the event organizers to ensure the site was clean and in appropriate condition for residents to enjoy after the event had concluded.”
questions over compensation were made public in video now circulating online that shows canadian rapper sonreal talking to fans on saturday night.
“i’m gonna be honest with you guys — i didn’t get paid to do this show tonight,” he said onstage to hundreds of attendees before performing a shortened set.
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lauagan and tekeste refuted those allegations, saying there were miscommunications with contracts.
“this was a misunderstanding about the payment arrangement and details concerning the scheduled final payment which has since been resolved,” said lauagan. “we’re committed to improving communication transparency in the future.”
officers did routine walk-throughs of the festival grounds over the two-day period and responded to one injured person and one overdose outside the festival on friday night, police said. “intoxicated persons” were also arrested but no one was charged.
“the public safety unit, swat and extra patrol members attended as a precautionary response,” said an emailed statement from the rps on tuesday. “aside from some fights that were broken up, there were no major issues for police that night.”
tekeste says they contracted a security company to work friday and saturday but, due to “circumstances out of our control,” security personnel did not show up on day 2 of the festival.
while the event didn’t go exactly as planned, lauagan and tekeste say they intend to bring the festival back next year.
“sweet escape fest 2025 will come back bigger, stronger and better than ever,” said tekeste.
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