Tacos and Tequila Festival draws complaints from festival-goers; organizers respond

The much-anticipated Tacos and Tequila Festival Saturday in Franklin turned from convivial to chaotic as long lines, parking issues, a limited supply of food and drink, and consistent rain complicated the event.

The problems led to a frenzy of complaints on social media platforms Reddit, Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.

They resulted in Social House Entertainment and ROC Ventures, the companies that put on the event, issuing a joint statement addressing the situation.

“Both our teams strive to curate unique experiences, and we sincerely acknowledge there were aspects of the event that didn’t align with the high standards we set for both teams and our guests," the statement said, in part. "... Recognizing the challenges faced, especially regarding wait times for parking and admission, we are already in discussions and are identifying robust solutions to ensure smoother processes for our future collaborations. ...

"Both our organizations are wholeheartedly committed to making improvements, ensuring every attendee has an enhanced and safe festival experience in all our forthcoming events."

Perfect storm of problems for Tacos and Tequila festival-goers

Nate Butchart, who attended the festival, said his problems started when he arrived at Franklin Field, the venue for the event, and saw a massive line to get into the grounds.

“I was with a group of people and it easily took us over an hour to get in, which caused us to miss an act by the time we got in,” he said.

He noted that the process for getting people into the stadium seemed counterproductive as lines were combined and separated multiple times before individuals made it into the stadium.

“The presence from the company that ran the festival was very minimal and it was only after I got into the park that I noticed there were multiple entrances, one of which was not being used because there was nobody there to tell people to walk to it to speed up the admission process,” he said.

Long lines were an ongoing theme of the night, but the situation only worsened after consistent rain caused multiple delays. The rain meant that there was no entertainment that would naturally spread people out across the park — instead, large swaths of people were all buying drinks and food at the same time.

Butchart and others at the festival said that overwhelmed the vendors and led to the supply of tacos and tequila-based drinks running out early in the night.

This was particular problem for people with VIP tickets, who paid $200 for complimentary drinks and tacos that many said were gone by the time they tried to order.

Butchart said he thought the venue was inadequate for the amount of people who were there and thought the festival oversold tickets. Social House Entertainment didn't respond to inquiries about how many tickets were sold or how many people were at the event.

The loudness of the concert was also an issue — noise has drawn complaints at other events at the venue in the past.

Earlier this year, Milwaukee County contracted with Resource Systems Group Inc. to conduct a six-month $200,000 study on the sound levels at Franklin Field. The study found that, if there's excessive noise, it's likely from fireworks and live music events at the complex's Umbrella Bar.

Other attendees had positive comments about Tacos and Tequila Festival

While social media was brimming with complaints about people's experiences, there were also plenty of people who had positive comments.

The Tacos and Tequila Festival was the first event held by Social House Entertainment in the Milwaukee area and the lineup of '90s and 2000s rap stars created anticipation for the show.

Social House Entertainment is based in Kansas City and is known for organizing festivals. The Tacos and Tequila Festival held in Franklin was just one of many like it that have been held across the country this summer.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tacos and Tequila Festival in Franklin draws complaints; hosts respond