Top 10 Social Events Gone Wrong
#10: Adrian Lopez’s Birthday Party
When California teen Adrian Lopez made a digital flyer for his birthday party in May 2021, nobody expected it to become the must attend event of the year. But when one of his friends posted information about “Adrian’s Kickback” to TikTok, the bash took off exponentially. The party gained the attention of various social media personalities. Adrian tried his best to try and get an actual venue to keep things contained. Unfortunately, the party still descended into chaos. The scenes were likened by many to a “riot”. However, lots of partygoers reportedly had a good night.
#9: Storming Area 51
In 2019, an unusual Facebook event went viral. Over two million people agreed to attend the “Storm Area 51” event. The attendees hoped to find out the truth about whether the top-secret facility is hiding evidence of aliens. But despite the large numbers of people promising they’d attend and confront the Air Force, very few people actually turned up. The “Alienstock” and “Area 51 Base Camp” festivals held in Rachel and Hiko, Nevada, both had an extremely low turnout. “Storm Area 51” was a resounding disappointment, especially since it didn’t even come close to proving whether aliens exist. Fortunately, no would-be trespassers were hurt by authorities for trying to break in.
#8: Barney Goes Bang
As beloved as New York’s annual Macy’s Day Parade is, it’s not the best event to put on when the city is being battered by strong winds. Barney the Dinosaur learned that the hard way back in 1997. Although the weather had been windy before the event, that didn’t change anybody’s mind about the parade. His friendly float met a catastrophic end after being blown into a sharp lamppost. Barney was ripped apart after people lost control of his balloon, in a dramatic scene captured forever on camera. When it was finally uploaded to YouTube decades on, his grisly demise was immortalized on the internet.
#7: Jaguar at the Olympics
Much of the Amazon Rainforest is located within Brazil. Event organizers wanted to bring the rainforest and its many exotic species to represent the country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. That led somebody to have the bright idea of bringing a jaguar to sit by during the torch relay. Unfortunately, the animal ended up escaping. To make matters worse, although the jaguar was found and tranquilized, a trigger-happy soldier ended up fatally shooting the big cat. These actions got the organizers in hot water with many animal rights campaigners. The people responsible were forced to apologize for the error of judgment of bringing a wild animal to a public event.
#6: TanaCon
In 2018, YouTuber Tana Mongeau felt like she’d been dissed by the organizers of Vidcon, the biggest convention for online celebrities. So, she decided to host a rival event. She called it TanaCon and used her fame and connections to create a line of incredibly famous internet personalities. Names like Shane Dawson and Gabbie Hanna were supposedly going to attend. But TanaCon was a disaster from the beginning. It was incredibly disorganized, with tickets being drastically oversold to a venue that wasn’t big enough for everybody. People were lining up in the street in the LA sun for hours without proper access to water. And all the guests needed to be refunded as they pulled out one by one.
#5: Euros 2020 Final
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The 2020 European Football Championship was plagued with issues. Not only did it have to be delayed for a year, but much of the tournament was marred by bad behavior. This came to a head in the final between England and Italy, played in Wembley Stadium in London. Rowdy England fans who hadn’t been able to get tickets decided to storm the stadium to watch the game. One of them even took the seat of the Italian coach’s young son. The resulting violence on the day of the final was appalling and shocked the world watching. It’s not clear why the stadium didn’t have adequate security that day. But the vast majority of people within and without the UK definitely condemned the scene.
#4: Stranded at TomorrowWorld
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A little bit of chaos at a music festival is to be expected, but things got way too out of control at TomorrowWorld in 2015. This event took place over a September weekend in Georgia where there was so much rain that the roads and campgrounds dissolved into mud. The poor weather led to the cancellation of lots of transport. This in turn left plenty of people stranded outside of Atlanta because everybody who wasn’t camping on-site was refused entry. Since many had no way to get home, there were people who had to spend the night in the woods or by the side of the road without shelter.
#3: Gender Reveal Wildfire
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Over the last decade or so, gender reveal parties have started to incorporate elaborate firework displays designed to reveal a child’s gender. Unfortunately, some of these celebrations have caused massive destruction. The El Dorado fire that raged through California in 2020 was one of those gender reveal parties that went awry. At least the ones who caused the fire called the authorities and owned up to what they’d done. Unfortunately, they were also responsible for the destruction of over 23,000 acres of land and, tragically, the death of a firefighter battling the blaze. In July 2021, the couple was charged with thirty offenses, including manslaughter for the death of firefighter Charlie Morton.
#2: DashCon
DashCon was designed to be a convention that was by and for the kids who used Tumblr back in 2014. It hoped to cater to the fandom culture that has always been a major part of Tumblr. Unfortunately, its organizers had no idea what they were doing. On the first night of the event, hotel staff told panelists that the organizers hadn’t paid for their accommodation, and they’d have to do so themselves. And then it turned out, the organizers still owed for use of the convention facilities too. They immediately tried to raise $17,000 through crowdfunding so the event could continue. Top it all off, after panelists pulled out, the organizers infamously offered guests additional time in a ball pit as an apology. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable or in this case, dishonorable mentions: Best Picture Mix Up “La La Land” Was Mistakenly Announced as the Best Picture Winner Instead of “Moonlight” Fast Food at the White House With the Government Shut Down, Trump Ordered Fast Food for the Clemson Tigers LG Balloons 20 People Were Hurt When LG Released Balloons Containing Vouchers in Seoul
#1: Fyre Festival
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Though nobody knew it ahead of time, Fyre Fest was doomed. This event was led by the rapper Ja Rule and Fyre Media Inc CEO Billy McFarland. Fyre Fest was supposed to feature many big names performing on a small island in the Bahamas. All the tickets to the island cost a fortune because it was supposed to be a “luxury music festival”. When guests began to arrive, it turned out that they were going to be staying in damp tents and eating cheese sandwiches. They were left stranded on the small, tropical island as performers dropped out. In the aftermath, both Ja Rule and McFarland were sued. Ultimately, McFarland went to prison for fraud.
