‘A nightmare’: What High Water Festival attendees hope changes about travel

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Hundreds of people were left stranded, wandering in unfamiliar areas of North Charleston after a two-day music festival brought thousands of people to the area over the weekend.

High Water Festival attendees were encouraged ahead of time to use ride-share options after the concert Saturday night, but they say miscommunication, road closures and lack of cell service led to rides getting dropped.

New Hampshire native and festival attendee, Annabelle Boisvert, turned 17 at midnight on Saturday and was stranded on the side of the road next to a construction site with police sirens blaring in the distance.

“It’s definitely not what I thought my seventeenth birthday would go like,” Boisvert said.

With about 15,000 tickets sold and only about 7,500 parking spaces, attendees were encouraged to use ride-share services.

Annabelle’s mom, Jennifer Boisvert, says she gave her the tickets on Christmas. Annabelle Boisvert’s best friend, Mia Powers, and her mom also tagged along.

They all said nothing but positive things to describe the actual concert and venue experience, but the tables turned once they started to head home.

“No one really knew what was going on,” Powers said.

“We started seeing some Lyfts come through and the police were telling them to go a different way,” Jennifer Boisvert said. “And once someone would get a ride, it would get dropped.”

She added it was incredibly stressful and nerve-wracking seeing so many people, especially young girls, so late at night looking helpless.

“It became a nightmare pretty quickly,” Jennifer Boisvert said.

This group says it took them over two and a half hours to catch a taxi for $175.

Another attendee, Marykate Acquisto, said she had a nearly identical experience Saturday night, which caused her to change plans for Sunday.

“We had a free place to stay, but I ended up booking a hotel so that we would actually be able to go to the concert,” Acquisto said.

This hotel was within walking distance of Riverfront Park, but she says it cost her and her fiancé an additional $350 to stay the night.

They all say something needs to change.

“Maybe better communication, and like, maybe a shuttle too,” Annabelle Boisvert said.

“A taxi line like how we do it up here in New York,” Acquisto said.

“A solid plan with the city,” Jennifer Boisvert said. “Especially if there’s road closures, what are they going to do to make sure we can get people out of here?”

The City of North Charleston’s communications coordinator, Tony Tassarotti, sent the following statement:

The city acknowledges the frustrations experienced due to traffic congestion at this past weekend’s High Water Festival. Although we developed strategies to manage the closure of McMillan Avenue—the primary access route to Riverfront Park due to the construction of a new overpass— it is clear that our plans did not sufficiently mitigate the impact. We have spoken with High Water’s promoters to let them know, and we want our citizens to know that we are committed to continuously refining these strategies to ensure that every visit to Riverfront Park is a positive experience.

The attendees were asked if they would return to High Water Festival in the future.

“I don’t think I would just because of how stressful it was,” Annabelle said.

“It’s not worth it if you’re going to be stranded out here without a phone with no one able to get you,” Acquisto said.

“If I had a mode of sure transportation, yes,” Powers said. “The festival was wonderful. I just need a different way of getting home.”

To learn more about this year’s High Water Festival, click here.

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