Where is the love? Attendees call Elements Festival a ‘shitshow’

Water, earth, fire, air and you: These are the five elements of the Elements Festival, a three day music, arts and camping festival in Lakewood, Pennsylvania. But after reports from attendees about 16-hour wait times and overflowing porta-potties started hitting social media this past weekend, an unexpected sixth element emerged: “I can confirm, it was indeed a shitshow,” said Abby, a festival attendee. Comparisons to 2017’s infamous Fyre Festival were inevitable, with a documentary and class-action lawsuit already in progress. The Facebook group Elements Shit Show 2021 has 6,100 members as of today and continues to grow. (Elements said in a statement that it had 6,800 attendees.) The first Elements happened in 2017. It was founded by Brett Herman and Timothy Monkiewicz of BangOn! NYC with roots in the Brooklyn underground scene. The duo took their projects from warehouse parties to three-day camping weekends.  This year, the festival promised a socially-conscious, inclusive and liberating experience for attendees — an escape from the social isolation and anxiety of the past year and a half. The lineup included artists like Griz, Diplo, CloZee and Bonobo. Rave culture often invokes the acronym ‘PLUR,’ a philosophy of peace, love, unity and respect. In hindsight,...