FairWell concertgoers voice frustration over long delays in leaving fairgrounds; officials, festival working to ease issues

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Deschutes County residents who attend events at the fairgrounds are very familiar with the traffic backups and delays in leaving nighttime concerts. But the second night of the inaugural FairWell Festival brought numerous social media complaints of 2- to 3-hour delays in getting out, with some people finally getting home at 3 a.m.

In a posting to social media pages on Sunday, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said it had been “working diligently” with festival officials for months “to develop parking and traffic procedures that best and most safely support an event of this size.”

“However, we understand your frustrations, and we are continuing to collaborate with festival officials to improve and adjust this plan for a safe entry and exit today,” they added, hours before the third and final concert night, featuring Willie Nelson.

DCSO Sergeant Jason Wall clarified Monday morning that the sheriff's office is not directly responsible for traffic policies or control at the fairgrounds, which are overseen by the fairgrounds, Redmond police and event organizers.

In one responding post, concertgoer Allen Goodman wrote that he’s been attending fairgrounds events for over 20 years, but that this was “by far the worst parking, entrance and exit strategy I’ve ever attended. Took almost three hours to get out of the venue! If events of this size are going to continue, it has to be better.”

One frequent fairgrounds eventgoer told NewsChannel 21 that while wait times are typical, not “being trapped in a parking lot with no way out and no movement and a lot of drunk people around them who were just getting drunker because there was nothing else to do.

“At first it was annoying, and then it ended up being basically unsafe,” she said. “What if there had been a medical emergency?”

Another who wrote to NewsChannel 21 called the parking and traffic management “disastrous” the first two nights of the three-night festival, waiting over two hours without moving even 10 feet from their parking spot.

“There was no staff to direct traffic after the show, effectively causing the lots to be emptied one at a time, with no movement in the rear lots for hours,” he wrote. “Many ‘parking lot parties’ sprung up and disgruntled/tired/drunk drivers made a free-for-all trying to escape, wildly unsafe.”

However, others on sites like Reddit’s Bend subreddit said they were impressed with the “extremely organized” event, calling it “top-notch.”

“Only holdup was getting out, but honestly not a ton you can do for that tbh” (to be honest), one wrote.

Others said they left a bit early and got out much quicker.