Organisers of Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival were allegedly warned about the overcrowding issues in 2021 that led to a fatal crowd crush.

Ten concertgoers, aged between nine and 27, died following a crowd surge during Scott’s headline set at the 50,000-cap festival in Houston, Texas, on 5 November 2021.

According to new court documents, the head of safety for the festival raised concerns about the number of people that could be near the stage, 10 days before the event took place.

“I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50k in front of that stage,” Seyth Boardman wrote to the festival’s operations director, according to BBC News. The exchange was one of many included in recent court filings.

The amendments were submitted by lawyers for the families of those killed at the event and others affected by the tragedy, as part of the mass civil litigation filed against the organisers.

Expert evidence submitted by the plaintiffs claims that festival planners miscalculated the number of people that could be legally allowed on the premise to avoid overcrowding.

The new documents suggest that organisers for Astroworld mistakenly thought that the fire safety code allowed for five square feet per person, but the actual number was seven.

This, it states, contributed to a crowd of roughly 50,000 people crammed into a space meant for only 34,500. The defence team is yet to file their expert reports in court.

“I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50k in front of that stage”

The documents also illustrate that organisers appeared to be concerned that gatecrashers entering without a ticket could exacerbate the situation and further increase the crowd size.

This issue, the document alleges, was compounded by security lapses and a failure to monitor the crowd for signs of a potential crowd crush.

The civil case is set to begin in May, and the defendants include Scott, Live Nation Entertainment and venue manager ASM.

Almost 5,000 people have claimed they were injured in the disaster, with lawsuits filed in each of the 24 district courts in Harris County. Nearly every claim alleges negligence such as “failures of safety and security rules, crowd control and emergency response measures, and failures to provide adequate security, supervision, training and care”.

Last year, the go-ahead was given for hundreds of the lawsuits to be formally consolidated into a single case. The first wrongful death lawsuit settlements were reportedly reached last autumn.

In June it was announced that no criminal charges would be filed over the tragedy at Astroworld (cap. 50,000), which was promoted by Live Nation and Austin-based Scoremore.

Jurors at the Harris County District Attorney declined to charge Scott (real name Jaques Webster II), festival manager Brent Silberstein, John Junell of Live Nation, security planners Shawna Boardman and Seyth Boardman of Contemporary Services Corporation, and Emily Ockenden, formerly of event production company BWG, after reviewing all the evidence.

However, Scott could be ordered to pay a considerable sum of money, depending on the outcome of the civil case that begins on 6 May 2024.

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At least eight people have died and hundreds injured after a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas.

More than 300 patients were treated by medics following the incident on the opening night of the 50,000-capacity two-day event at NRG Park, promoted by Live Nation.

Tonight’s (6 November) planned second night has been cancelled.

Houston fire chief Sam Pena told reporters: “This is a tragic night. We know that we had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and we had scores of individuals that were injured here in this event.

“The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious and it created additional panic.

“The mass casualty incident was triggered at around 9.38pm this evening. After that time, we transported 17 patients to the hospitals. Eleven of those that were transported were in cardiac arrest. We won’t know the cause of death of the eight that are confirmed until the medical examiner has completed his investigation.”

Nobody has all the answers tonight

Pena praised the work of the emergency services and Live Nation “in trying to secure what was really a chaotic event”.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Scott, who founded the festival, stopped multiple times during his 75-minute headline slot as he spotted fans in distress and asked security to help them out of the crowd. It added that some fans had stormed the entrance gates at the start of the event at 2pm.

“Nobody has all the answers tonight,” said Houston police chief Troy Finner. “We did have problems on the front, kids for whatever reason started rushing and it got out of control a little bit but we got it under control… I don’t think this incident is related to what happened that caused the deaths.”

With a line-up curated by Scott himself, the festival has previously hosted the likes of Post Malone, Rosalia, Pharrell Williams, Da Baby, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Playboi Carti and Megan Thee Stallion.

Astroworld expanded to two days for its third edition in 2021 following the success of its first two events. According to Live Nation, in November 2019, the festival became the largest single-day artist-curated music festival in the country, as well as the largest music festival in Houston.

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Grammy award-nominated rapper Travis Scott has announced that his Astroworld Festival will return this year with an expanded format due to ‘overwhelming demand’.

The third edition of Astroworld Festival will take place on 5 and 6 November at NRG Park in Scott’s hometown, Houston, Texas, with a line-up curated by the artist himself.

Scott has revealed that he will be headlining Astroworld Festival 2021, which will adopt the theme ‘Open Your Eyes To A Whole New Universe’, while the full line-up will be announced closer to the time.

The previous two events have sold out before line-ups were revealed.

In 2019 the festival became the largest single-day artist-curated music festival in the country

According to Live Nation, in November 2019, the festival became the largest single-day artist-curated music festival in the country, as well as the largest music festival in Houston as the sold-out event played host to over 50,000 fans.

The festival, which celebrates hip-hop, pop music, has hosted the likes of Post Malone, Rosalia, Pharrell Williams, Da Baby, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Playboi Carti and Megan Thee Stallion.

Two-day GA passes will be available for purchase beginning next 5 May at 10 am CT on AstroworldFest.com.

A portion of proceeds from Astroworld Festival 2021 will be donated to the festival’s official charity partner, Cactus Jack Foundation, founded by Scott.

The expansion of the festival follows Astronomical, Scott’s record-breaking in-game concert event which took place in Fortnite in April 2020 and attracted more than 12 million players.

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Beyoncé’s hometown concert in Houston, Texas, on Saturday was picketed by a police group.

The Coalition for Police and Sheriffs (Cops) protested around a mile away from the NRG Stadium against what Cops’ Tony Ragsdale, an officer with the Pasadena Police Department, described as “anti-police” performances by the singer. The group also shone a blue light at the stadium – likely a reference to the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement, formed as a response to the Beyoncé-supported Black Lives Matter group.

The music video for ‘Formation’, the first single taken from new album Lemonade, shows Beyoncé lying atop a sinking police car in a flooded street and features numerous references to the shooting of young black men by American police. The Houstonian also performed ‘Formation’ at the 50th Super Bowl halftime show flanked by dancers in Black Panther-style outfits (these guys, not this guy).

Beyoncé last week added seven new US dates to her sell-out Formation world tour, promoted worldwide by Live Nation.