The annual SummerDaze festival has come under fire by revellers who were left in hour-long queues at water refill stations that ran dry, forcing people to remain thirsty or pay a minimum of €20 to buy a drink.

Some 45,000 people were expected to attend the event, which hosted American hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas, Swedish singer Zara Larsson and Puerto Rican rapper Farruko. But after the main event in Ta’ Qali on Tuesday, social media was awash with complaints from attendees who said the long queues, exorbitant prices and lack of drinking water made the festival unbearable.

After paying the €11 entry fee to the event, which was part-subsidised by the Malta Tourism Authority, attendees faced long queues to purchase and top up a card for a minimum and non-refundable cost of €20. They then had to line up again to use it to buy food and drinks.

With festival-goers prevented from taking in their own drinks, those who decided to stick to the free water refilling stations also faced lengthy queues before discovering the water containers had run dry.

A patron described 300- to 500-person queues for water refilling stations that ended up being dry, forcing people to go to first-aid tents for water

One patron described it as a “horrible experience”. “Long queues everywhere to buy tokens, it was never ending and no water was available,” the patron complained on social media.

“Why does a teenager/student have to spend €20 in tokens just to buy a bottle of water,” Leanne Cauchi Mihalic asked under one of the event’s Facebook posts.

Another patron complained on Reddit that several people had to seek medical assistance because of dehydration. The person described 300- to 500-person queues for water refilling stations that ended up being dry, forcing people to go to first-aid tents for water.

Shirin Magtymova wrote on Facebook that it was impossible to get water due to long lines. “We came with family and were so excited to listen to our favourite band but unfortunately couldn’t make it, because I faint[ed] due to dehydration,” she said.

Despite the MTA heavily supporting the festival organisers, people attending this year’s event who wanted a €2.50 bottle of water were made to buy a non-refundable €20 pre-paid drinks and food token. Photo: Facebook

For those who had bought drink tokens, a single bottle of water at the event cost €2.50 while soft drinks cost an extra euro. “This means that in order to get approximately the full amount of the token purchase, one had to buy five soft drinks or eight bottles of water,” Louise Aquilina wrote in the Are You Being Served Facebook group. “Or are we inciting our youngsters to buy alcohol and cocktails, because those would use up the €20 token with much less drinks,” she asked.

“At least a one-hour queue to buy a token with a QR code on it to be able to buy drinks or food,” Emma Mallia wrote in the same group.

Other complaints focused on the limited amount of stations to buy tokens and a lack of event marshals.

‘Queues longer than expected’

Responding to questions sent by Times of Malta, event organisers 356 Entertainment said the number of water stations and bars were in line with the best industry practices for similar events. The organiser said that the time between the water fountains running dry and being refilled was less than 30 minutes.

“On top of that, we also make sure that medics have allocated water to distribute free to whoever asks for the entire event,” it said.

Admitting that queue times for token top-ups were longer than expected, the organiser explained that people tend to pick only a few of the available stations, bottlenecking the process.

Asked about the high minimum cost for food and drink, a spokesperson for top-up card provider Blynk.mt said the token cards were meant to cater for groups rather than the individual.

“The data shows that certain people really understood the system and managed it properly,” the spokesperson said, as many visitors made full use of their token at the event, sharing the costs with other attendees. Many events have used physical drink tokens in the past, which are also non-refundable, the spokesperson said.

The Malta Tourism Authority heavily supports the event, giving €2.7 million in taxpayer funds to the organiser for last year’s festival. Asked where the government funding for the event goes, 356 Entertainment said the investment is critical for attracting international guests.

“Such events also bring significant exposure internationally in Malta’s core markets as the events are hea­vily advertised too,” it said, emphasising that such events have helped establish the tourism niche over the past years.

Questions regarding cases of dehydration at Tuesday’s event have been sent to Malta Red Cross.