Summer Daze's free events returned for this year, and they were bigger - much bigger - than people might have expected. 

David Guetta, Tyga, James Arthur, Danny Howard, Alle Farben, Paul Kalkbrenner and a slew of local artists came together to perform on the Summer Daze stages for two nights of free entertainment - and five nights of music in total.

There were plenty of positives, but also a few issues which soured the events for some.

The good

The event on Thursday run as smoothly as it could have. 

All artists showed up at the exact time they were scheduled to, including David Guetta, who had announced he was cancelling his performance in Sardinia due to food poisoning. 

“It is with genuine sadness that I am letting my fans in Sardinia know that I am unable to play at Red Valley Festival for you tomorrow,” he wrote, “I am sending my biggest apologies to all my fans and I hope to come back and play in Sardinia very soon.”

The message came as a surprise on Monday and many fans were concerned that he would not show up in Malta either, but show up he did. 

Performers were incredible and people mostly enjoyed the show, even giving their opinion on how to improve the festival further. 

“It was a great event, no doubt! Maybe a suggestion for next year is to have someone keep the audience entertained during the 30 minute change of artists. It was still amazing, and I cannot wait to come back next year,” said local attendee Giulia Azzopardi. 

Compared to the first edition of the festival in 2018, you could see the effort put into this year’s event. 

Security was much tougher, and although there were a lot of different entrances and people working, queues did run a little too slow, with attendees waiting for over an hour to get in at some peak moments. 

There were many food and drink stands to chose from and the event went a little greener thanks to reusable cups you could purchase when buying drinks and keep as a souvenir.

Using tokens to buy food and drink was a good idea. However you had to spend a minimum of €20 to get tokens, which meant that even if you only wanted to buy a bottle of water you still had to spend €20. That explains how organisers made money at an event where tickets were free.

Other amenities also improved compared to 2018. The number of toilets and bins grew exponentially and there were people even collecting the trash that wasn’t thrown away in the appropriate bins. 

The bad

However, there were a couple of things that were not great. 

Things got confusing on Wednesday when organisers first told people the event would be moved back of a couple of hours due to concerns about bad weather, and later switched venue from Ta' Qali National Park to UNO Village.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused but your safety is our priority," they wrote. 

The change in venue meant many people were unable to get in, though. 

According to UNO Village's wesbite, the nightclub can accommodate 4,000 people. Compare that to the 25,000 people who made it to the second day of Summer Daze 2019, and it becomes evident that many people were left disappointed. 

People vented their frustration on social media, saying they spent hours queuing only to be turned down by security at the doors. 

“Absolute disaster of an event! Times and location changed last minute, poor organisation, aggressive and rude security, complete chaos! People were being refused access at the door due to full capacity, even with VIP tickets which were not free,” said one of the unhappy customers that were turned away at the door on a Facebook review of the event. 

David Guetta closing Day 3 of Summer Daze festival. Photo: Facebook/Summer Daze

On Thursday, things were definitely not as bad.

The main issue was the lack of sufficient transport after the festival. 

Unless you were one of the fortunate people who drove to the event and had their car there, getting home was not an easy task. Calling a taxi was close to impossible unless you had booked one in advance, with all taxi services having no available cabs around Ta' Qali. 

Special night buses ran every 10-15 minutes, which was good - but still not enough to accommodate the thousands of people who needed to make it home. 

“Amazing line-up for a free event, but there was a complete lack of organisation and information when it came to transport after. It was a nightmare! Loved the music though,” said another attendee on a Facebook review of the event. 

People pushing, asking the driver to let their family and friends on board before others got a chance to get on. It felt like the scene in Titanic where people are fighting to get on a lifeboat, minus the gunshots. 

The partying will continue on Friday and Saturday nights, as Summer Daze 2019 wraps up with events at UNO Village and Medasia - though you will need to buy tickets to make it in.