Great Great Great!!! Everything was great! The weather was perfect no rain and it wasn't to hot or cold for the two day concert. They had plenty food vendors throughout and the lines wasn't to long. D'usse was the only alcohol sponsored so that's pretty much the drinks you had besides beer. It's a outside concert so port-a potties is the only bathroom they have. Make sure to bring tissue because at night it's hardly any tissue in them if any. They also had many of these so the lines wasn't too long. Two artists I wanted to see didn't perform but everyone else on line up was there. I like how it had a app where you could see what stage and times each artist was performing. They also had vendors set up for you to win prizes. The best was Shein (secret lounge). Next best was Puma you got to play for a free shoes. If you won you got the free shoe and to design it right there. Which was super cool. I had fun both days and would go again! I would suggest better merch. The people selling shirts outside the concert had better shirts than inside the concert and than online. read more

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After this i realized im a concert person. I need an assigned seat and some personal space Lets get this out of the way the line up was great. beyonce killed it. Yea she did the same songs i saw at the on the run tour but the mixed, costumes, and choreography was fresh so it felt brand new. I got to see some old favs like Fabolous who brought out young gunz and freeway! And was introduced to some new acts like saint motel. The music acts are awesome of course but as the day wore on the sheer amount of ppl was overwhelming, especially close to the main stages I couldn't even get to see big sean after Future preformed because the crowd was literally sandwiched together and trying to move at one time. They really over sold those tickets and it ruined the end of the event. Also I get bud sponsored that event but geez $11 for a beer? I dont even like beer but i guess that worked out in my favor because being out in the sun and heat for over 7 hours drinking wouldn't have been the best deal. But taxing ppl for water is ridiculous and that free refill station was a joke the lines were ridiculous just like at the charging stations. Also no re entry is ridiculous its not like there were handy seating areas anywhere...ppl were just supposed to flop down in the dirt. And you couldnt bring in chairs. Having the event in the middle of Philly was an awesome idea. Seeing all that architecture and the monuments in and around the festival was a great touch. I wouldn't come back to this festival unless they didnt over sell the tickets which probably wont happen. Id rather see artists in concert where i know i wont be trampled trying to walk around and i can guarantee i will actually see and enjoy the show. read more

Made in America - Fab! - Festivals Near Me

Great concert but the restrooms situation was horrible! As I was walking to the restroom I saw numerous amounts of people squatting and peeing because the lines were too long! Bathrooms should be more spread out and easier to use instead of the long lines due to the quantity of restrooms available! I enjoyed the concert overall, but I would do better if I had assigned seats instead of people stepping on me trying to get to the front of the stage. I saw Cardi B, Maleek Berry, Jay Z, 21 savage, Solange,and Migos. I am sad that I couldn't see Chainsmokers but I wanted to see Maleek perform as well. They only sold beer, which was fine considering it was an outdoor concert. It was fitting! I am so sad Beyoncé didn't come out on stage when Jay performed. Wahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I would probably do this again but I would have to do VIP and make sure they had more potties available lol. Overall good time. read more

Made in America - Made - Festivals Near Me

I would say the normal experience of finally getting to attend the Made in America event should represent a 4 star affair but there was many things that got in the way. OVERALL, there were not many complaints. I got there from New York, hopped on the chinatown bus and was literally in Philly in 2 hours exactly. Walking distance the place actually was but I wanted to experience the subway system so that was one stop. In the spot finally, we got to see all the stages that represented this big festival. Overall also wish I could have attend the Saturday program as well but it was a rain all day fest. Sunday was a mudfest but I survived and saw 21 Savage (No Heart, Bank Account), Run the Jewels (El-P and Killer Mike), The Chainsmokers, Pusha T and Jay Z, the main attraction. The place was huge I mean that is a good and bad thing. Bad thing was the bathrooms which were portapotty were all the way near from the entrance like near where you entered period. IF you are on the Tidal stage, you were sort of in the middle but the Rocky stage was honestly BLOCKS away. IT WAS A SHAME really. It was a choice hold my bladder and be early and get great position for RUN THE JEWELS or spend about 30 mins going and coming walking through this huge ass crowd. I feel like it was too many people around. Not quite the same as a normal trip to Randalls Island for EZOO or Panorama. I liked this experience but I thought the speakers were terrible at least on the stage with 21 savage, Run the Jewels and Marshmello. I am not an EDM lover but I MIGHT have had the most fun during Marshmello and REHAB set. The crowd was so into it and it was just all love. I had to sort of leave early and missed some of Jay Z at the end, my bus to NY was an 11pm last bus out so it was time to go. I saw everyone else I WANTED so I was cool and I avoided paying $13 for a beer. I mean nasty budweiser was only sold in 24 or 25 oz for $13 (highway robbery to me, it was not Blue Moon or something). Maybe this was just a one and done experience, like I don't feel the need to come back next year but it was still something to cross off my concert list, even though I missed J. Cole and Cardi B and MIGOS from the day before. Walking throuh the mud was sort of fun and not fun at the same time. Well at least I didn't wear my church shoes, and the white sneakers can always go in the wash. Speakers need to be improved for next year, and add more bathrooms in different locations. IT Was borderline ridiculous to go that far from stages to the bathroom area. I have to give the place credit, Tidal DID ALOT OF promotion and did hang out some throw towels and draw string bags and the water stations were easy to find on a hot day to cool yourself down. Standing up all day was cool for that day , but It made me realize I am getting older I can't do this shit as much as I used to. read more

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Made in America is my favorite. I love when Labor Day rolls around and my boyfriend and I get to plan going to the festival. They always have a seriously great lineup and the stages are set up really well so you can usually see most of the people you want to see without an issue. It's spread out enough but not like your walking miles between sets. I also love the food truck selections. They're reasonably priced and provide really great portions and tasty treats to try throughout your experience. If you want to get a front row for a headliner definitely start making your way towards the front of the stage around the 4/5 o clock show. You're still going to get pushed and you're going to be tired by the time the headline comes, but if you like the 4-7 o clock artists enough, I'd say it's worth doing this. Fortunately made in America has really good displays and sound systems so you don't necessarily need to be front row but if you love the artist it's definitely worth waiting. read more

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It was made on America's 10th anniversary. Jay Z and Beyonce created an annual pilgrimage that keeps the same people and tons of new ones coming out every year, wrapping up the summer. It's a great show, spaced out beautifully across the parkway in Philadelphia with multiple stages, excellent food options, nice lighting, and the performances are one of a kind. This year the sound was not so great back near the entrance. It typically is perfect. Upfront, the sound was excellent. Easy access, although security contractor CSC was sexist and rude at the magnetrons making males be pat down by males and females by females. If they are professional, it should be a nonissue instead. It delayed entry for everyone. With covid I seen no one cleaning anything, like counters at food and beverage service or the portable toilets, there were hardly any trash receptacles, so everything was dropped on the ground, I'm sure they cleaned it up, but with bottles and cans, it was a trip hazard. Also interesting is that they required a Covid19 negative test or a completed vaccine; however, the security contractors did not comply. The performances were delayed especially building that cube on the Rocky stage they had last year, which is a waste. Very boring set, and the same as last year was highly disappointing. Fireworks at the end were pitiful. Some venues use the fireworks to alert the staff to expect the masses to be exiting. Still, they could have improved the fireworks. The crowd was great, one incident of a guy being ignorant. He got clocked by a few people. I don't condone violence but he deserved it! This was an excellent concert and a good time in Philly. read more

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Texting is nigh impossible when you have a holy clusterfuck of people jammed in one place. If there's another festival next year, organizing meeting points for everyone is going to be a necessity. Anyway, I'm pleased the Made in America Festival[1] came back to Philly this year - it might've been a traffic nightmare, but business is business, and tourism is always a good thing for the city of brotherly love. Regarding the lineup, I'm glad Deadmau5 was one of the performers. And damn, Imagine Dragons did a superb job! THINGS I LIKED - the music - good security, lots of support personnel - who doesn't like concerts, especially in front of the Art Museum? - mobile device charging stations - photo booth! - the weather. THINGS THAT WERE... NOT SO GOOD - as I mentioned: shit-tastic cell service - at least for AT&T and Verizon - like beer? because that's all you're getting (there's soda and water, and liquor only comes with the VIP package) - man, are we rampant litterbugs or what? - concert staff, please empty the trash bins more often - a useless map, so you don't actually know where the charging stations are - cash-only (even in 2013) - this concert was orchestrated by a beer manufacturer, and their branding is everywhere, which seemed at-odds with the number of under-21 folks there - yeah, I get it's a celebration of music, but yeah... [1] How am I the first to review this? read more

If you live in Philly, you should head to this fest. Don't live in Philly? Ehhhh. Save your $$ and head to a more established fest elsewhere. The only impressive part of this fest was the EDM stage. If I'm coming away from MIA talking about a Feed Me performance, there's something wrong (not that Feed Me sucks, but you get the point). Sure, I'm a fest snob, but MIA just doesn't do it for me. Go casually from 4-9pm or from 6-10pm if you're gonna go, bc being there all day is nearly impossible. Here's a rundown of the event... Pros: -The place itself is nice. Statues, right in the middle of the city, park grounds, bars outside the venue, great lighting. -Price is on point. Picked up tix for $117 (incl fees) for both days -Line up is always a B. Not bad, not great. -Improved EDM stage. The tent last year was atrocious. They constructed a pretty awesome stage this year. Cons: -They don't have headliners playing at the same time. Why is this a con? Bc the crowd is no longer split up. At MIA the ENITRE CROWD races from one stage to the next to see the main acts. In the 20+ festivals I've attended, I've never seen so many stampedes or have been so squished while in the BACK of a stage. -$11 Buds. BARF. Luckily we found one of the vendors had Black Crown, which is at least drinkable and a step up from Bud heavy. -No in/out -No great views of the stage -Garbage everywhere -Portos... were portos...awful Best way to do this fest? Pick 2 artists per day you love and get to their stage an hour early. Then casually hang around. read more

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Jeez Jay Z, get your sh** together!! This music fest is not deserving of your reputation and brand! Disclaimer: I went in 2013 so things might have changed since then. But my experience was not the best that I have not thought to give it another shot yet. Ok, let's start out with the positives before my actual rant begins... ** Great lineup - When your wife is Beyonce and you're a well-known rap artist with monumental influence in the music biz, I'm sure it's pretty easy to get a good lineup for the music fest that you endorse. Some big artists that performed in 2013 were my girl Bey, DeadMaus, Calvin Harris, Kendrick and more ** Great marketing - again as a rap mogul who has launched a ton of businesses, I'm sure Jay Z has got the marketing thing down pat Now that the pleasantries are out of the way. Let me get started. Firstly, what's up with those ridiculous lines for water? It was 4x easier to get alcohol than water at the music fest. Which is sooo dangerous especially since the music fest is out in the sun where people are dancing or on their feet for hours on end. There was only 1 water refill station for a music fest that let in hundreds of people. So of course, the wait for it was approx 1 hour which means your missing out on listening to the artists that you paid to see. So if you then decided to try and BUY water, oh well sorry but they ran out! Also when you've spent a full day camped out listening to artists sometimes all you want to do is sit down. Unfortunately the area where the music fest is held isn't large enough to always find a place to plop your bum down. During the day, its much easier. But at night, forget it! There is no place to sit. I'm not talking about those in the front who camp out for hours just to see the headliners perform. I'm talking about anywhere within the bounds of the music fest. Lastly, what was the deal with the crap food and only Budweiser sold there? If I'm paying an arm and a leg for a meal, at least let it be a halfway decent meal. Gov Ball has a phenomenal selection of food in comparison. Sorry but I am a bit of a NYC food snob when it comes to it and I had a hard time paying for a limited selection of crap. It was especially terrible because a friend of mine can only eat chicken (no beef) and their menu consisted of burgers, fries and chicken tenders. When she went to order chicken tenders (after waiting in line for 45 min) she found out that the were all out of chicken tenders. She ended up eating fries for each meal. read more

Made in America - Festivals Near Me

I love you JBud but NO NO NO. YOU CAN DO BETTER. 1. I got an infection BC of the amount of dust and crap that was in my lungs. Sneezed ever 5 mins with BLACK crap coming out every time. It was DISGUSTING. What pissed me off most is the WORKERS had masks on...... SO YOU KNEW THIS PRIOR. SHAME ON YOU!!!! -what would have been genius since you had tidal everywhere(towels, stickers etc) was MASKS with the tidal logo **genius** Would have looked awesome in pics since at raves people DO wear masks. I'M SUING IF SOMEONE STEALS THIS IDEA. 2. TOO many people. I am the QUEEN of getting to the front but it wasn't even worth it BC you prob would get smashed or take an additional 30 mins to get out. 3. WHO TF TAKES NAPS AT FESTIVALS??? As a raver, this isn't allowed people this is how bad things happen. It literally looked like death row with row and rows of people sleeping. 4. You were SO wrong for that BS small stage for the edm people. It was the most live and it was shoved in the corner with the worse dust knowing people dance most to that music. I never hated a festival so much, I was SO sick after shaking and crap. Just INCONSIDERATE and wrong to KNOW how gross of an venue you guys chose and treat people like you don't care and only protect YOUR people. WE MADE THIS POSSIBLE, treat us the same. Done with this festival unless major changes but I'm not your people, highly doubt you will care. read more

*This is a review for the 2016 MIA festival* Finally made my way to Made in America. Being Made in America myself, this felt like a Inception experience. The line up for 2016 was a pretty good mix of artists from Trance to EDM to Hip Hop and Rock. The setup is massive with food vendors, other entertainment tents, Budweiser stands and 4 different stages. As always an early setup for all your favorite artists is recommended but you can wing it and still get a pretty good spot for most performances. The sound systems are all setup well. In general the vibes around me were almost always good and there were only a couple incidents. The traffic situation wasn't that bad which was very surprising to me being from DC which is home to a lot of gridlock. The Good: Artist selection was pretty wide although I don't think there were many, if any, country artists. The vibe was friendly, I met quite a few people and everyone was enjoying the music. You can get to the front for most artists with good planning. There was a good number of food vendors and I could always find a food area with little to no lines. There is a security presence that isn't intrusive to your experience which is key to a good festival. The price for the line up is well worth it. All the artists I saw came with strong performances. I'm not a huge crowd person but there is enough open space to give you a break from the insanity of people and there foolishness. Everyone came out on time which I always appreciate. The Bad: The Dust Bowl effect in front of the DJ/Trance stage. There were part of the grassy area that must not have seen much rain because it was literally a breathing hazard. The foot traffic was high especially around the port o potty's and the jumping at the close by Trance stage created even more dust. Even the DJ's and security had bandannas covering their mouth. The dirt stuck to sweat, your lungs, your clothes...everything. It was bad. Only Budweiser is served at ridiculously high prices....near $15 for a Bud or Lime-a-Rita...CRAZY!!! It makes the pre game important. There was food available but as with many festivals the great options have really long lines. Some places had issues with the wristband pay so keeping some form of plastic payment is a good back up plan. Overall it's a worthwhile festival, for some reason I always enjoy the festivals that take place in Philadelphia. Just avoid the dust bowls...VERY IMPORTANT. read more

I attended this one year to see Beyonce and as my first time to the event I wanted to see the other acts as well. We were there all day and it was HOT!! I think I drank the most water I've ever had that weekend (thank God for the free refills). I hate mobile bathrooms but these weren't as bad. Def an experience! read more

Made in America - Festivals Near Me

Okay, there were some things that could have improved and stuff that just happens at EVERY music fest. You can't change the drunk obnoxious people, you can't change the hot weather causing people to sweat, you can't change rude folks... The list goes on. This was my first time at the MIA fest and I had an awesome time. The lineup for both days... spectacular. The screens to view the performances were decent. Granted, if you were too far back, yes you were kinda screwed but take in consideration the location and trees. I felt like I was at a genuine concert with most of the artist, the stage the lights (Phoenix.... amazing lights). Drinks were pricey but were they any pricier than a club, state fair or concert hall? The food was made for fast grubbing. I hated my veggie nachos since they were cold. I enjoyed the $20 unlimited soda truck from Wild Bills. I was fortunate enough to not have to use the bathroom even after drinking 1 liter of water. I did see that the lines were long and TP ran out early. Things to improve on: -The water refill station. Why was it at 1 location? -Bathroom monitoring and cleaning (Best if you bring your own TP) -Cell phone charging stations. It was so packed on Saturday I did not realize there was an oasis near the main entrance of the festival where you can see vendors, check out Skype interview artists, and buy portable chargers. Cell phone charging stations should be more widespread than two places. -TRASH! They did try with the recyling program and bins but people were just disrepectful of mother nature. Would I go back, hell yea. I love music and I love vibing with people that like the same artists. Bring water, bring snacks, bring some tp or travel size wipes, don't wear sandals unless you want nasty dirty feet, and most of all have fun without being rude. FYI: I drove up from Bmore and book my hotel almost as soon as I got the tickets for a great price. It was 20 minutes walking from the fest! I recommend you park at an overnight garage (the hotel ones are pricey) and cab it for the weekend. Also, my t-Mobile service seemed to work fine, my friends with Sprint, nope. read more

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I came as a vendor to help with the Milano Di Rouge store. We had access to all shows. This is definitely a show for much younger crowds. But there was a good mix of ages in attendance. The artist line up this year was pretty cool. Lots of new names and older ones: Gucci Mane, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Tecca, Travis Scott, Lizzo, just to name a few. The vendors were typical carnival foods. Although they did have a few speciality shops like the crabs and Philly cheesesteaks. Overall the experience was very good and the weather was great. Not a fan of the security setup with getting in and out but thankful that they kept everything safe. Hopefully next year I will make it there again! read more

I have a such a strong love-hate relationship with Made in America. One second, I'm over it and never want to come back to MIA. At other times, I don't want the festival to end and I want to come back in the future. My mixed feelings are why I think 3 stars is appropriate. The Love: The endless music options! There are so many genres amongst the many different artists that perform. R&B, hip-hop/rap, pop, rock, EDM, techno, house... the list goes on and on! There are five different stages at the festival (Rocky, Tidal, Liberty, Skate, Freedom). If I had to guess, I would say about a total of 50-60 artists/groups performed between the two days. The more popular artists usually perform at Rocky Stage towards the end of the day. J. Cole, Solange, Chainsmokers, and Jay-Z blew my mind! If you're adventurous and have legs and feet of steel, I recommend arriving early so you can get exposed to some lesser known artists. Another tip: Go to the EDM stage(s) at night; it's a huge, trippy party in the middle of Ben Franklin Parkway. So much fun! The Hate: A special shoutout to my lungs for taking on all of the second-hand smoke that I inhaled over the weekend. Weed... cigarillos... cigarettes... vapors... you name it. I thought smoking was going out of style, but MIA proves otherwise. For some reason, people love to blow smoke right in people's faces. If you have respiratory problems, this probably isn't the event for you. R.I.P. to yet another good pair of shoes. My MIA experience in 2015 was dry and dusty. 2017 was wet and muddy thanks to the endless rain. This year I saw one guy with plastic shopping bags around his shoes. He may have gotten plenty of stares, but I bet his kicks were spotless by the end of the weekend LOL. I suggest you follow suit, or wear some really old shoes that you don't care about. Once you enter the festival, you cannot leave. Between 2015 and 2017, they upgraded from paper tickets to electronic wristbands. You can now simply scan your wristband at the gate, which will turn from red to green to confirm your wristband is legit. Despite this upgrade, you're still stuck. MIA is a long festival, and sometimes you may want to get out for a minute to breathe (literally and figuratively), eat, sit down, explore Philly, etc. For $200 tix, we deserve a little better. $13 for a beer? Nah. Will I be back? Eh... maybe. There are other music festivals that have better reviews. Despite the cons of MIA, there is still something addictive about this festival that makes me want to come back one day. read more

Good lord, I somehow had a great time at MIA but by most measures it shoulda been a horrible experience, so I dunno. First, the good. The music was FANTASTIC and everyone seemed to be having a blast. The beer was just Bud (couldn't even find Bud Light)-- and it was like $11 but really for two beers so i didn't think that was bad at all. And yes there were a ton of obnoxious teenagers and it was crowded. But it's a music festival, after all. However, it would be much more fun if we could come and go. I'd definitely have come for some of the earlier bands if I knew I weren't trapped there, but instead I just came late. There was a huge storm in the middle of the day so they kicked everyone out-- I guess they had to, but that was a shit show. I asked some people working the event how we would know when it started back up and no one could tell me. So we missed a few acts we really wanted to see. That sucked. But the truly disgusting part of this thing was the porta potties. They weren't just gross, they were actually totally and completely unacceptable. It HAD to have been a health code violation. Toilet paper was obviously not a thing, and they were so full they were OVERFLOWING with filth. I am not exaggerating. It was messed up. And reading old reviews informs me that this was also an issue last year, which makes me mad. FIX THE PROBLEMS!! read more

A review from a festival virgin. The Good! - LOVED the location. Instead of being somewhere out in the burbs, it was smack dab downtown. The mainstage was in front the 'Rocky' steps, and there was George Washington on horseback with a spectacular view. As an out of towner who had never been to Philly before, it was two birds with one stone. - The water stations. I was impressed that we were able to bring in sealed or empty bottles and fill them up. There were two stations, one 'you fancy' station of brita filtered water to the right of the Skate stage and one not so fancy to the left of makeshift waterfountains supplied from a hose. Naturally the hose water was not as cold and had that tap water after taste, but it kept us hydrated and was free, free, free. - The food. Liked that there were options beyond fries, hot dogs and burgers. The food trucks and the stands were a nice touch. - The music, of course. Highlights of the days for me were Public Enemy (even Flava Flav's still got it), Imagine Dragons, and the headliner Nine Inch Nails. Loved that all of the acts put on stage productions beyond just the live performance aspect, it was nice touch. - The Crowd (mostly). I was nervous, as a festival virgin, as to how overwhelming the crowd might be for a 5'3 polite Canadian that won't say boo if I get jostled or pushed back. However the majority of people were really accomodating, polite, and there for the same reasons - to enjoy music and have a great time. And some even apologized for being tall and standing in front of me - bonus! - Cab availability at the end of the night. We were really worried about this as we were staying well out of the city near the airport. The cabs were plentiful at the end of the night and we had no problem hailing one. Also, none of them attempted to rob us blind with inflated prices, which was a bonus. The Bad! - The Crowd (kinda) I did find there were a number of people who appeared to be at the festival to walk around half-dressed and mostly hammered, just to scream over the music at their friends while completely ignoring the acts on stage. If you're going to do this, do it at the back of the venue rather than mid-crowd distracting all the real fans around you. Or even better, don't come at all. It's a lot cheaper to get half naked and drunk in your backyard with a sound system. - Beer prices. Obvs. - The porta-potties. No long lines but ick...if you spinkle, wipe your tinkle, folks. The Ugly! - The trash. Hold on to your cans and garbage and chuck em between sets, is it really that tough? - The Crowd (the few and far between) A few overly drunk patrons puking and stumbling at 3pm. A girl so high her boyfriend was taking her to hospital in a cab, first day at 1pm. Overall, I had a fantastic time. Loved the music, loved the city and will definitely festival again next summer. read more

I'm tempted to rate the Made in America Festival with an extra star, solely because of Beyonce's presence. But alas, I need to be fair and give the festival what it deserves: 3 stars. 2013 was my first year at MIA and my first time ever setting foot in Philadelphia. I was excited. The line-up was fantastic, with such a great range in genres that literally anyone can find a stage that suits their taste (except country, so sorry country fans). For such an incredibly low price (I paid $116 for the pre-sale tickets), it can be worth it for the line-up alone. The many downsides to MIA begin with the fact that you can only drink Budweiser. Unless I didn't explore enough (I'm hoping this is the case), the only libations you can enjoy are Budweiser beer & Budweiser fake-margarita which are all served in cans. I did love the Budweiser Project 12 tent where you could sample the new brews in the running to be distributed nationally. Fun stuff, especially when you're on your 12th illegal sample (you're really only supposed to try it once...). That was possibly my favorite part about having Budweiser involved in MIA. The biggest nuisance for me was the crowd. I mean, was every underage college student in America present at MIA? I felt like it. Because the venue was so cramped, each stage gave me the feeling of being stuck in a sardine can. Either the festival needs to increase their stage space, or minimize admission. There really were TOO MANY BODIES. Too many sweaty, smelly, overly ratchet bodies that were really cramping my style. I witnessed 4 fights during the entire weekend. Not ok, frat guys. Not ok. Now, this is all coming from someone who has been to other festivals and did not find the above problems with any of them. Maybe Coachella has gotten a little too mainstream over the years, but I'd much rather go to Indio than spend another weekend at MIA, no matter how great the line-up. read more

Thee most awesome experience ever especially since I couldn't make coachella I look forward to more festivals like these. After the first one your hooked! All these food vendors just awesome especially after a tall can of Budweiser!!!! read more

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Okay, I know I'm over a month late in reviewing this, but MIA just left me with such a strong, lasting impression. I HAVE been to other music festivals, so I know what they come with - hot weather, sweat, huge crowds, horrible bathroom options, sweat, overpriced drinks and food, intoxicated drunkards/druggies. But MIA takes the cake. I honestly would have rated MIA 1 star (as yelp puts it, Eek! Methinks not!), were it not for the great choice of artists that led me to buy the $100 early bird ticket in the first place. But that's pretty much the only great thing about MIA, that I took away at least. I am not normally a claustrophobic individual, but I was in serious fear of my bodily health more than once at this festival. The stages/layout of the festival is extremely poorly thought out. Especially with the way the artists were lined up - people were rushing from one stage to another, so there was really no clear walkway, no area to rest, no nothing. Just pure chaos. And because of the volume of people that were there, calling and texting failed 90% of the time. I have never been to a concert where I was never able to see a single artist at all. I never was able to get a clear view of ANY stage, no matter how much I weaseled my way through the crowd. Even standing at the edge of the crowd to make sure I had enough space for myself to breathe comfortably was impossible - because the crowd just kept growing and growing and growing. On Sunday, the second day, I realized that there were empty portapotties at the edges of the entire venue, but walking there from where ever your friends are waiting takes at least 20 minutes because of the throng of people EVERYWHERE. Water filling station was impossible, so I just forked over 4$ a bottle at the nearest vendor (which eventually sold out of water...). Bottom line: WAY too many people. I will never go to MIA again unless it is for certain that they reduced the amount of admissions by at least like 50%. There was just that many people there. Granted, Beyonce, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Wolfgang, Phoenix, 9IN, Kendrick, etc. were all there, and it was at one of the most beautiful spots in Philadelphia. But what good is it if I can barely see them, can only hear them through speakers that are being muddled out by the stage right next to it, am surrounded by strangers that have the potential to crush me to death, have to spend half an hour for each bathroom/water bottle run, and can't contact my friends let alone meet up with them in the giant amalgamation that was MIA? No thank you. Seriously, Eek! Methinks not. read more

Well, I've attended this festival every year they've been here and yup, 2 stars is all this fest gets Why come back every year if it's so underwhelming and I give it 2 stars? Well there are a few positives and I'll start there ( also.. it's in my hometown so it's like going to a festival in your backyard, good music will bring me there). The good - MUSIC -- I've been happy with the music selection. This year specifically hats off to Jay-Z for bringing BASSNECTAR here -- that made me insanely happy. Atrak, GTA, DeLaSoul were some other awesome highlights along with Claude von Stroke and Duke Dumont. Tech isn't that big in Philly, but us music beatheads appreciate the good music selection. Also, water situation this year was much better And.. that ends the good The bad 1) This year was stupid over-crowded. Blatantly oversold and overcapacity. Such a bottleneck effect getting from one stage to another. Really a joke 2) To that effect, because of the overcapacity issue you understand that your limited food truck selections lead to a VERY LONG food truck line and also very long drink lines.. let's move on to the drinks 3) $12 for a pounder Budweiser is also a joke. Yay it's a pounder, great.. except that this is sponsored by Budweiser so you really can't go lower than $12 for a pounder? That's a joke if I ever heard one 4) TRAIN YOUR STAFF. Trust me. I go to enough concerts, shows, festivals to know that staff is usually outsourced to an event company/security company but fine -- make sure they're TRAINED CORRECTLY. And try to be polite, we're your customers that may never return again. Example -- I brought my hula-hoop day 1 with no issues at all -- great, wonderful. Guess what, I even screenshot your FAQ on your website for this specific possible issue which claimed no issues to hula hoops I read it 10 times over. Day 2 staff member says " you can't bring those in." Me: I brought them yesterday with no issues, you want to look at the FAQ I screenshot there is no indication. Staff: you can't bring them in. Me: Let me see your supervisor Staff: hey mikey can she bring them in? " Mikey": Yeah that's not a problem. Me: That's what I thought *keeps walking*. Idiot staff: hey i'm just trying to do my job Me: Trying, but not succeeding very well. "Mikey": Lose your attitude. Since this is yelp, I will abstain from the obscenities I am currently saying in my head right now but that's no way to treat a customer you *************** . Consistency. Train your staff to the SAME standards or same rules. Somehow these incompetent folks have a paid job??? I'll end it there. Good luck to anyone that goes read more

Version 2.0 proved to improve upon some areas and deteriorated in others. Next year, I'm definitely waiting to see what the lineup looks like before purchasing tickets, as I feel that there are other festivals that may deserve the attention over this. I went last year as well, enjoyed myself but acknowledged that there was a fair amount of improvements that needed to be made in order to create a sustainable festival from the vantage point of the festival attendee. It's a competitive landscape, seems like there's a festival almost every weekend somewhere across this great land, so if you want to stick around, you have to make it worth someone's while to spend the time, energy, and money to attend. I always enjoy visiting Philadelphia, and for me this is a huge draw. It's a relatively short trip over a three day weekend, and the festival starts late enough in the day that you have a chance to explore the city and/or recover from the prior night's fun. I really want to see this festival succeed, but I am skeptical about being a return attendee in 2014. I left 2013 with the impression that there was not much done to improve the festival experience over 2012. PROS: *Relatively strong and diverse lineup (2012 was better than 2013 for me) but it's definitely a mixed bag of entertainment ---2012 highlights included Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, The Hives, Gary Clark Jr., and Run DMC ---- 2013 highlights included Beyonce, Miguel, Emili Sande, Macklemore & Lewis, and Public Enemy. *Capitalizes on a great outdoor space in the heart of the city *Ample road closures to allow people to meander out *Good spacing between the stages *Good timing between the end of one act and the beginning of the next *Food truck options that didn't run out of food as quickly as 2012 *Much better cell service than 2012, but still not great. At least I could make a phone call this year. *Weather both years has been great (warm, but better than rain) *Roaming vendors selling beer, soda, and water (I give them a ton of props lugging all that stuff around in very warm conditions). *Price was right. A 2-day ticket for $99 is pretty awesome. CONS: *Less water refilling stations with a bigger crowd (2013 vs. 2012) - shame on you. *Stating you could bring in empty water bottles (non-Nalgene) and having security stop you during the checkpoint. *Lax security checkpoints - they barely look at your stuff (perhaps I'm a little sensitive to this as a Bostonion post-Marathon bombings, but could be buttoned up a little more) *More attendees that lack general understanding of common courtesy and festival etiquette....do we really need some spoiled brat cutting the water line after a calm crowd had waited 15 minutes to get to the front? NOPE! *Deplorable conditions of the port-o-potties come 8:00 PM. Some of them looked like a nuclear bomb went off inside. *Trash was being bagged up and left out in the festival grounds. read more

Made in America - Festivals Near Me

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I attended the 2015 MIA in Philly and let's just say I won't be going back. Definitely expect more from a Jay Z event. PROS: Line up was amazing Good location, I really enjoyed Philly CONS: WAY OVER CAPACITY, I mean extremely. It was impossible to get around or get anywhere near the stage. I pretty much paid to watch the performances on a giant tv screen with 40,000 people. I would say the venue should hold half that many people. This pretty much ruined the experience for me. A friend I brought with me was on the verge of passing out (from dehydration we think), and when we asked for a medic the only thing he did for us was suggest water and give us a cool rag. If my friend wouldn't have recovered after 20 minutes and we would have needed more assistance, I really don't believe they would have done much for us. VERY UNSAFE. Food wasn't very good, and definitely overpriced. And my expectations weren't very high. WON'T BE BACK, which is really sad because this has so much potential. read more

I attended the 2015 festival and I will start off with saying the line up was great. They definitely got some great artists to come out. I will say Sunday's lineup was better than Saturday's (even though Beyoncé was headlining on Saturday). I think modest mouse and death cab for cutie didn't really fit with the festival and there were periods of time on Saturday where there weren't any artists performing that I wanted to see. However Sunday's lineup gets the review up to 4 stars. Now I'll comment on why I gave it an overall 2 star rating. The venue is too small for the number of people they have. Five stages crammed into the parkway up until 21st street just isn't enough space. Even if I showed up early to an artist's set I was still at the back of a crowd with people trying to push past me to walk around the stage. Second, the venue is dusty, like dust bowl dusty. All that dust cannot be good for the lungs. Third, they didn't empty the portapotties ONCE during the day on Saturday. MIA planners we commend you on having free water available but honestly when the portapotties are filled to the brim at 8pm and your headliner doesn't come on until 10:30pm we have a problem. Fourth, noise between the stages! I felt like the stages were so crammed together that you couldn't separate sets if they overlapped each other. All these put together, I give the festival a one star rating. Average two stars. read more

Best Music festival I've attended thus far!!! For 140000 tickets sold, I anticipated chaos. It's so hard to go into detail when all goes well. Thanks for the app budweiser, it provided us with updates about entry lines, weather, etc. Tidal streamed the festival so I got to watch one performer via mobile as I was arriving to the fest. Thank you forever for BEYONCE! Her performance was amazeballs. The lineup was great. Entry and exit was what I expected. I was a bit dirty leaving the fest both days but what can you do. CON: I suspected a lot of underage drinking going on. But Budweiser nor Jay Z can do anything about that. read more

The chance to see all these artists up close and personal was beautiful. Great line ups every year and the prices of the tickets are not too shabby. The bad: Not enough potter potties. When there isn't a huge artist playing, lines can be 15 people deep. Prices of Budweiser beer was $13! Way too much, maybe $10 but $13? Trash everywhere because the lack of trash cans. Maybe if they placed a few hundred more with a few dumpsters and about a few dozen cleaning crew to pick up the rest from Earth killers then we wouldn't have to have 1 foot standing and rolling on top of an half full water bottle for 3 hours. read more

Here's the problem with Made in America: There's no attempt to brand this festival/create a culture. There is trash every where within a few hours of the doors opening, unlike other festivals that hire volunteers to pick-up the trash. The portapotties have literally been overflowing at the end of each day both years I went (I don't know how the city hasn't addressed this after the first time). I'm honestly surprised they provide free water. The food options are decent and the line-ups have been good most years but the last time I was there I saw a group of people rip a tree out of the ground while waiting for a show and were subsequently cheered by some around them. You'd never see that at top music festivals because you don't draw a crowd that is about ripping trees out of the ground and trashing a park. You don't have to be a tree hugging hippy to disapprove of that. Their location is part of the problem on two fronts. The main stage is massively blocked from view by a huge statue that is unnecessarily gated off 30 feet in each direction. Furthermore, when you have a festival so easily accessible to everyone who lives in that city, it becomes something a group of high schoolers or locals can do for the afternoon (rather than going to the movies or something else), and not something you have to plan and make an effort with your friends to drive to. Maybe that's a bit elitist but making festival so easily accessible to everyone causes an issue. Although Lollapalooza does not seem to have this issue so maybe it's just the management. Come on Jay-Z and crew! read more

Hmmm. I went to Made in America for free and boy am I glad I didn't waste money on a ticket. My major issues: WATER: As you can imagine if one is spending nearly a full day at an outside venue, hydration is pretty important. I believe there were only TWO water stations where you could refill...and the lines were unbelievably long. So long that I decided to just keep buying Dasani at $4 a pop. What a jip. TRASH: Let's assume that most people who came to this event don't have enough common sense/decency to use one of the plentiful trash cans at their disposal. Perhaps that was the issue at first. Later I noticed people were just leaving shit on the ground because the trash cans were literally overflowing and there was nowhere else to put it. I need for there to be a system to empty the cans throughout the day. Let's be reasonable now. SCREENS: I would have preferred that there were screens not just in the actual stage areas, but throughout (similar to 4th of July). That way you can still enjoy and see the performance even if you don't want to be in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. During most performances it was like Best Buy giving out 40 inch TVs for free on Black Friday. Completely ridic. SERVICE: Sure I'm on the shitty Sprint network, but my phone was of no use here AT ALL. I've been to the parkway for the 4th and even during Live 8 and never completely just been out of service. This is an issue for me because in the event that you get seperated/lost from your crowd you may just be out of luck. I got some bars before coming in, but there's no reentry so that wouldn't even be an option in case of emergency which sucks. SMELL/CROWD: Two words for you folks: Personal hygiene. While I'm sure sprays/perfumes aren't allowed, I can't imagine that a tiny travel sized deodorant wouldn't be. I carried a rollerball and security said nothing (not that they searched my bag extensively either). If you're planning on being in the sun all day sweating and gyrating it's the least you can do. I mean, it was the end of the night and we're psyched about Calvin Harris' performance. We're in the middle of the crowd...arms go up...wind blows...sweet nothing? More like tart something. I almost passed out trying to hold my breath through every fist pump situation. SMOKING: They should rename this Budweiser Pot Fest because the majority of people here were high as hell. I'm not knocking anyone's choices but when you're in a small crowded space, as a nonsmoker it definitely affects my experience when there are people blazing and blowing shit directly into your face. OVERALL VALUE: While I did like the actual performances (great lineup for both days), it's not an experience too much unlike the FREE 4th of July concert at the parkway. I think I actually prefer that better to be honest. For those who had to pay for tickets, I can't imagine how they didn't feel that prices for everything were just ridiculously steep... $11 beer/lime-a-ritas (that weren't even in the largest can), food trucks charging 3x what they do on a regular day, etc. Also, there was a lack of crowd interest as it seemed like most of the people came drunk, then attempted to keep the buzz alive with beer/pot and as a result of all that were just acting foolish. I was actually surprised I didn't see more people pass out from dehydration but I guess being damn near naked keeps you a bit cooler even under the influence. I did, however, see what appeared to be an underage girl in a bra and pantie shorts and no shoes being carried out by police. I think my experience would've been more enjoyable if there were more adult-minded people that we're there to enjoy it for what it was...a MUSIC festival. Tsk. tsk. tsk. read more

Ah yes, Made in America...sponsored by Budweiser, Jay-Z, crop tops from Forever 21 and every underage drunken frat boy in the tri-state area. So what do you get for a $150 2-day pass to MIA? Treated BADLY. I went last year with a friend and let me tell you...NEVER AGAIN. My friend and I have attended a lot of concerts...we've been to most major one's that have taken place in Philly and Jersey in the last couple of years as well as music festival...so we know what to expect... at least we thought we did, but nothing prepared us for this shit show. Let's start from the top shall we? - In order to get a decent view of ANY of the performers playing you literally had to be there when they opened the gates, then proceed to park by the stage for however many hours it is until your desired band/singer comes on...if it's one of the headlining acts...you're looking at least 10 hours. Otherwise you might as well have stayed home and watched it on Youtube because have fun with watching them on the jumbo-tron and hearing it over the speakers that make it sound like you're listening from at least a mile away...although in retrospect that's probably an accurate estimate of how far away we were from the stage - There seemed to be no cap on the amount of tickets sold and/or people that were let in...they just kept coming...each group a little more drunk than the last. This was an outdoor festival, however it's important to keep in mind that this was still a ticketed event that outdoors or not, took place in a finite area. (And fun fact for the event planners that planned this atrocity, finite means limited, definite, fixed, restricted...just figured you could use a little vocab lesson since that is clearly a word you're not familiar with) Everywhere I turned someone was bumping into me, I was getting shoved, or tripping over someone. I understand that they're trying to make a profit but I'm sorry were the $12 Budweisers, $4 water bottles and extremely overpriced tickets not enough for you? -It was complete chaos and not in a fun way. There was no organization...it just felt like the people running it were ill prepared to deal with the turn out. None of the event staff knew where anything was or what stage anyone was supposed to be playing on. As soon as one person or band finished it was just a stampede to another stage. Good luck not getting trampled. - No coming and going. Once you were in that's it until you wanted to leave. I can sort of understand this however, if you're hosting a 12 hour event where you do not permit people to re-enter once they exit then you need to be prepared to accommodate them for that time and they were not. You were not permitted to bring in anything except for 1 bottle of water...which you could either re-fill at the water stations (which I still am not sure where they were) or fork over $4 for a Dasani water bottle of which they eventually ran out. Also since this was their policy and it was a 12 or so hours long event they advertised phone charging stations they offered. We came equipped with our chargers expecting these things to be set up throughout the venue like food and water stands were. Fast forward to 45 minutes of searching and asking numerous event staff where it was only to be told 'somewhere over there' about 10 times...we finally found it. It was literally a table with 1 power strip that had about 50 people crowded around it all waiting and charging phones. Don't wanna wait but still need to charge your phone? NO PROBLEM! Just fork over 40 dollars to the Duracell tent it was plugged up to to buy one of their portable chargers! Also this strict policy made it difficult for us to see everyone we wanted. We wanted to see Beyonce most of all but since neither of us wanted to be confined to this place for such an extended period of time we came later and ended up having to sacrifice seeing some artists we would have liked to. - The porta-potties were deplorable. I know porta potties are not meant to be glamorous and there to serve a simple purpose so let me elaborate a bit...the majority were over flowing...the ones that were not were out of toilet paper, hand sanitizer or both. - The food and beer prices were outrageous and it took about 20 minutes or so of waiting to get either one. We sucked it up and waited for our luke warm 12 dollar Budweiser's...only to have some drunk asshole knock it out of my hand and spill it down my shirt. Also 97% of the vendors were cash only which was obnoxious because I was carrying that much on me so I had to hit the ATM a few times throughout the night. Overall this experience was just horrific for us. We both love Jay-Z and love going to concerts and getting drunk and having a good time but this event was just too poorly executed for any of that to happen. I wouldn't be as mad if tickets were maybe half the price we paid. We paid 150 and other than warm beer, a huge headache, and nightmares to come,I'm still not sure what we got for read more

Having frequented Electric Zoo, Warped Tour, EDC, Woodstock Reunion & countless concerts across they years. I find myself, VERY disappointed with the poor quality of MIA fest. My friends and I were very disappointed with the event we attended in Philadelphia this past weekend. It was a mess, people were rude, lines were long and the venue was a poor one. Firstly the main stage was blocked by this huge statue in the center of the view not only was the statue a total obstruction of view but also, VIP area aided to my viewing problems because it was elevated. Secondly, since nearly all of the set times were back to back I had to constantly encounter a cluster of rude obnoxious people literally fighting each other for a decent view. Bottom line it was terrible, i would not return,, EVER. read more

This year was my first time to the made in America event and I must say it probably be my last.... the ticket prices are ridiculous but thanks to GILT for the 2 for 99. The only thing that kept me at the concert was Kanye west, the other acts we blah. This year I was told they were allowing ticket buyer's to be under 21.... the food prices were fair, the beer was over priced like crazy.... the bathroom lines were crazy and the port potties were disgusting. You would think they would pay to clean them at least 3 times during the day. But to sum it all up, you are not missing anything by not going to this event.... it is over rated with a bunch of nothing read more

This is the music festival for people who want to go to a music festival but not to an actual camping out in the middle of bumbleville-festival. This festival is acceptable to attend if you live nearby, but definitely not worth traveling from afar and/or paying to stay in crazy inflated priced hotels. Cons: disgusting porta-potties, $12 for a warm Budweiser, hour long lines for overpriced food, nowhere to sit and enjoy said food, you have to sit in the street amidst all the kicked-up dirt-filled air around, some stages are spaced very inefficiently and too close to one another, thus mass crowding. Sunday evening's spacing between the huge names was TERRIBLE. The free water stations have ridiculously long lines, there are nowhere near enough garbages, either. More cooling stations/solutions should have been implemented. Speakers sometime could not handle loud volumes that instrumentals from Axwell & Ingrosso's and The Weeknd's sets contained. Pros: A great line up with something for anyone, with a variety of genres covered. The artists really performed at a high level and kept the crowd entertained, if they weren't waiting in bathroom, food, and water lines, that is. Beyoncé killed it. The Weeknd killed it, as well. Glad to see Meek Mill isn't suffering from PTSD. Jay-Z: if you're reading this, I still think you're great and a global business icon, but this festival was surprisingly poorly planned and executed. According to the MIA website and articles, you had a large say over the planning of the festival, but I really hope you take the time to consider your fans' feedback. Please somehow get in touch with me, I'd love to provide some constructive criticism from the viewpoint of someone who has attended MIA 2 years running. read more

This entire festival valued quantity over quality..and it really showed. I am not a concert newbie, I understand there are crowds, and filth but good lord.... where do I even begin. Let just say there was not one touch of cleanliness through out this entire event. No clean porta-potties, no hand sanitizer, no soap, no toilet paper, the list goes on. Not nearly enough trash cans. By Day 2, the festival resembled a slum. Not only where no there areas to sit, but you couldn't sit on the ground because of the massive amounts of garbage. $12 for a Budweiser. I'm not even gonna get into that. The fact that someone in charge of this whole production OK'ed that decision should consider a career change because you clearly don't know anything. Everyone knows Budweiser sucks. Not enough food trucks, or any other beverages besides Budweiser, not enough space in general for the event. Trying to get out of the crowds was terrifying. And I work/stay in NYC through out the week and am in crowds everyday and I honestly am fine in them, but this was not just a crowd, it was dangerous how many people were sandwiched together. Also, there were hardly any police/medics for how many people there were. I'm in my young twenties so I consider myself young but when I tell you there were young people there....I'm talking middle schoolers getting wasted wearing high ride shorts with their butts hanging out, and bra tops. Everywhere. Barely anyone older than 19. When I was that age, we were not this expressive...everyone seemed to be trying really hard. Either that or they were rude, hostile and some-what violent. (My friend had someone dig nails into her arm for just trying to leave the crowd, not the actual venue's fault but wow everyone needed to calm the f* down.) The fact that you can't come and go as you please is so transparent and greedy of Budweiser and Made In America that I will be cautious about attending their future events. They keep you there all day so you can spend money on overpriced water and big pretzels. Oh and you can't bring your own food or fold up chair. This is what $200 a day got us. With that said....I saw BEYONCÉ! So that pretty much makes up for everything. And I went with my bff and we ventured to Philly and it was fun because we had each other. But we probably will just stick to concerts in NYC near us ;-) read more

It was a pretty standard music festival. The performances were great and I got some cool free stuff from the vendors (water bottle, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, towel, sunglasses, bandana, beer, etc). It was really crowded which is expected. It seemed like there were a lot of high school kids who were kind of annoying. We were able to sneak our own food and drinks in so that was cool. The food trucks were cool but overpriced. The beer outside of the tasting tent was really overpriced! ($11 for Budweiser?!) and water was $4 for a regular bottle. The porter potties were absolutely disgusting!!!!!!!!! Like way more disgusting than standard ones. they were not emptied ever which is ridiculous for a two day event with that many people. read more

I had some fun share of moments at this festival like during DJ mustard and seeing The Weekend live was everythingg! But seriously this was the most poorly run and chaotic festival I've ever been to! The whole place was severely dusty everywhere from the chalky dirt from the ground. We even had to go to the medical tent to grab a face mask. The first day when we got home we had black snots all night it was disgusting. The stages as well we're quite small and poorly set up on the fields especially for the amount of people they had at this festival. There were random picnic benches in the middle of nowhere which the crowd would bum rush you into and your legs would get bruised up, random rails and ramps on the floor that myself and so many others almost sprained our ankles from, and let alone the crowd and vibe of this festival was awful. Fights breaking out left and right, angry disgusting rude people pushing and shoving left and right and argueing, screaming everywhere I went... I've been to many festivals and use to the pushing and crowd but this was on another level... ESPECIALLY DURING FUTURE... Everyone in this festival were a bunch of angry douche bags. Festival is definitely ratchet x1000. Whoever below said this was not chaotic must be on some drugs in their own world. Trust me, I'm all about a good time and turning up, and usually don't mind some bad encounters but this festival was poor. If it wasn't for the smooth fun blast of time during DJ Mustard and The Weekend highlighting my experience, Made in Ameica would've received 0 stars from me. read more

I went in 2013 because I got free tickets from volunteering with Budweiser (#winning). Beyonce was headlining on the day that I went there. We got there late (like 2pm) and were disappointed to learn that there is no re-entry. This was a huge bummer because there weren't many acts that we wanted to see besides Beyonce. So here is how we proceeded to spend the next 10 hours: 1. Standing: There is no seating anywhere on the Parkway and even if you brought a blanket to sit on the ground was pretty filthy and you can't see anything if you sit on the ground. 2. Being thirsty: The lines were crazy long for any kind of beverage 3. Being smoked out: It seemed like everyone was smoking and as someone who hates smoke, it sucked to be around that 4. Being hungry: By around 7pm they had run out of most of the food (?!). The only things left were things like chicken fingers. There weren't many veggie friendly options. 5. Milling Around: Did I mention there is nowhere to sit? 6. Waiting in line for an hour and a half to ride the amusement park ride that they had. 7. Avoiding the Port-a-Potties: THEY WERE DISGUSTING OMG. I wish I could erase the memory of them. Have you ever seen a completely full port-a-potty? No? Well just use one at Made in America and you can check that off your bucket list. 8. Watching the people in the EDM pit dance: That was pretty epic. 9. Not being able to see anything: I am only 5'2 and I couldn't see anything on stage. I had to settle for the jumbotrons. 10. Watching people pass out: People were literally dropping like flies. It is extra hot at the festival because you are standing on hot pavement, so definitely make sure that you stay hydrated. The suckiest part of it all was having to walk all the way home (after being on my feet for 10 hours) because the subway was closed by the time Beyonce finished performing :-( Overall it is an experience so definitely go if one of your favorite acts are performing, but I personally will never put myself through that again. read more

You pay $100 for a day pass and you have to spent more money inside to eat, drink, and generally be able to function. I was surprised this much money didn't buy me better bathroom facilities (porta-potties are horrible). Beer was warm and then they wouldn't refund me. This is definitely a "festival" for kids who don't know how to have fun. If this is the future of music fests, Im glad Im old enough to not have to go to another one around here. ACL and Bonaroo here I go. Made In America, Live Nation and Budweiser sucked. read more