Broccoli City Festival

This year's BCF was HORRIBLE. There was no organization nor management in regards to the venue, ticketing, and vendors. I stood in a jam packed crowd (like sardines) for over an hour just to get into the venue because there was zero organization or delineated lines so people were just bum rushing and running over each other to get in. See attached picture. Once I finally got in I then waited another hour and 15 minutes in a food line to get overpriced low quality poke. By the time my friend and I got to the front of the line they were running out of ingredients and we had to settle for what they had left...mind you this was at 6-7pm. Towards the end it started raining, getting extremely windy so most of the vendors with tents just packed up and left so we had to basically stand out in the wind and rain as they did not allow people to bring umbrellas in. The only good part was I got to see Cardi B, but definitely for the amount of money I paid for an entire festival experience..

Awesome concert the food trucks and bathrooms could ve been arranged a little better had to wait almost 2 hrs in food lines about 45 minutes for the bathroom but overall we had a blast lots of standing but it was worth it I will definitely attend next years festival as well!

Amazing to see a group of minorities congregate without any negativity simply good vibes, great music, & a dope time

Way too many people. The lines were crowds that ended up being hours long, music was too slow. Loved the artists but we wanted to turn up not be in love or hurt

TOO many people, not enough staff. The performers were amazing though.

I HAD A GREAT TIME , Also This Was My First Concert, Had Fun All By Myself

Cardi, Migos, H.E.R, Rich The Kid *drool* *heart eyes* Surprised I didnt lose my voice !! I was too busy staring at the stage. Food lines were LONG AF !! Water was not readily available

Pretty cool music festival, everything was smooth and went as planned. I would attend again.

I ve been to broccoli city the past two years and this has easily been the worst year. It was so unorganized.

While the musical acts did their thing and the DJs as well, you were out of luck if you didn't eat before the event. Food organization was atrocious!!!!

Really enjoyed myself however the line for drinks and food was crazy

Did not have the energy of a festival everyone was tryna be too cool

There were people pushing and running into each other. The planning to this event was very poor. Police should have been here instead of security.

Overcrowded. No access to food or drink. Messy and extremely disorganized lines. Many people fainted

Not what I expected. The venue was ehh, very disorganized, lack security, aaaaand they ran out of water!! That you had to pay for! Not the best festival experience, will not be coming back

This event was hella fun! The artists were amazing.

I liked it better at the old location. The lines were extremely long. The pulled pork was good. Cardi B didn t perform long because she was pregnant. Migos audio went out . It was just unorganized in my opinion

So unorganized, long lines over an hour for a drink and the same for food!!!

I thought the overall event was nice. Line up was well put together. Only criticism is they didn t have enough trash cans or recycling for it to be an Earth day celebration.

The overall event is a great idea and concept but poorly executed. I couldn t enjoy the event like I wanted because I spent hours in lines. For food, beverages even to enter it definitely impacted my experience . With 35,000 people it s imparitive you plan for that so that guests can enjoy and return. Addditionally it has rained at this event for years but they continue to have it in April when it rains the most and it s historically be cold/chilly. Again great concept amazing line up but poorly executed too many dead breaks between featured artists, time line is way too late for April weather, not enough food or drink options etc. unfortunately I think this was my last year attending :-(

Overall the music was awesome however I waited in lines the entire concert. I think they need to be more organized with the food and drink lines even if that consist of hiring more people.

Unorganized. Paid for vip and had no real separation at the entrance. General admission ppl were sneaking into vip. I don t appreciate that.

The venue is nice. The talent was on point. However there needs to be better n more organized entry n exit points. You need more food vendors because the lines we're really long. Other than that with there being no fights and just good vibes. Im with it for next year

Should use newer venue and the vendor lines need to be more organized.

For the amount of people there were not enough vendors. Not even close. The lines were 200 people deep and they sold out of food/drinks at most places at like 7:00pm. Cardi wasn t good but Miguel & migos after were alright. Waist of a Saturday.

Lines were very long and they didn t organize it will. People were crowded around food and drinks and there s for couldn t figure out where the line started or ended. The poor bartenders had no help people were in the back just standing around.

Concert was soooo much fun! Although I was unaware you could bring in chairs I would have been even better. However, the entrance into the stadium was horrible and could have been better.

The broccoli fest was amazing. I loved every money of It . What i will tell you is i hated the lines for food & drinks. It is recommended that you come early just to get food & a drink . Me and a friend were in line for an HOUR to get drinks . But other than that HAD AN AMAZING TIME . Great LINE UP

Lines were too long for food. They did not stay close to schedule. The speakers went out for a song and a half for the closing acts

Slow and disorganized entry and terrible vendors!!

venue was perfect. performer were fine. staff was helpful and kept everyone safe

Fun time but large crowd, heavy weed smoke, long lines for food. I was impressed with the amount of outdoor restrooms. The performances were great, so still worth the money.

Had so much fun, the food was great the line up was great, the vibe was great, the ULTIMATE cause is what I believe in and support.

Cardi B Miguel and Migos were fantastic I will definitely be going next year

The performances were outstanding, but the organization of allowing everyone into the venue was horrific. Folks were cutting the line and there was absolutely no order. After waiting in line for over 1.5 hours to get into the venue, the food line was an additional hour at minimum. With an outdoor venue in the heat, there needs to be water posts so that you do not have to wait over an hour to hydrate.

The acts were great but the organization was amateur at best. Lines with hour plus long waits are inexcusable when you know thousands are coming to an event. We plan on standing a lot during a festival but to have no benches or seats of any kind is just cheap and shows after the money is taken from our accounts we don t matter very much. A new venue on grass with atleast double the amount of vendors and places to actually sit will make this a real festival! The biggest festival in DC deserves a venue that is on the level of of the artists performing! Here s to a 2019 Broccoli City that will be all around love!

My friends and I were so excited about the concert and that the festival was supposed to stand for but for the moment we got there it was a complete disappointment. The whole event was really disorganized and the lines for EVERYTHING were extremely long. As a matter of fact there werent any lines, just people all pushed to the front. Oh and let me not forget that literally no one had cellphone service at all even across different carriers. Since the lines were so crazy we decided to split and have some stand in the drink and others in the food line. We stood in line for 2 HOURS to get a drink!! then we went looking for the girls that were in the line for the food only to find them still waiting in line! The line were they were originally waiting for ran out of food so they had to go to another line. That is simply crazy. The venue was super dirty, trash everywhere. Definitely did not reflect what " Broccoli City" was supposed to be promoting. The majority of our time was spent in lines and I feel like this festival was a complete waste of money and time DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!

There was trash everywhere! More trash cans please!

This is my third year attending broccoli fest and it will be my last. QUALITY/QUANTITY!!!! It felt as though the people who put the festival together took the culture out of it. Let me break it down for you: there was only one stage (with 30k+ people hovered in front of it) usually at big festivals BOTH stages are utilized by artists, that way everyone's not crowded around just one area. My next issue is the art and vendors were ticked off into a corner (at the old spot on MLK in SE the vendors were in the middle, easily accessible from the stage) my next issue is with the food trucks (some ran out of food. I was in line for 2 hours of a funnel cake. Bottom line, either have more food trucks or less people). During HER and Daniel Ceasers performance I could barely hear them. Idk if that was a speaker problem or a mic problem. Bottom line, broccoli fest you've lost a faithful festival goer. Until you go BACK to MLK I'm not rocking. The best year was the year they had joey badass, jaden and willow, kali uchis, etc.

Pros: Miguel and Cardi B were lit No wait for bathrooms Cons: Everything else was absolutely unorganized!!! The wait times for every line was at least a hour

I have been to Broccoli for the last 3 years and this year's event seem to get away from the cultural identity that it once had. Overall it was enjoyable, but not quite what I expected.

Broccoli fest as a whole was great! The performers did their thing! My complaint is in regards to the audio and visual side. Under no circumstance should audio go out on a performing artist for more than 2 minutes. This happened when Migos were on stage. It could be because of the rain. They didn t even notice the audio had shorted. Much of the crowd started to leave. Lastly, the camera operators and switchers. Why weren t the transition shots on the jumbo screen shot smoother? Where was the communication between the director and cam ops?! The camera operator on stage should be more stable. I (or the general audience) should never see the camera pointing at the sky adjusting or hunting for the next shot. Ever. That was unexceptable. Hire professionals who are capable of getting the job done right! If you really need a hand, I would be more than willing to offer shooting advice and support. All in all, the turn out was great and the experience was one to be remembered for sure.

So BCF was POPPING. However. Make separate lines for water next time. It s much faster to hand someone a bottle of water than mix a cocktail, so why would they even be sold under the same tent. Also, make the ppl who check tickets hand out 21+ wristbands. The manpower used to do the ID check tents could ve been used elsewhere to cut down on line times. I was dying of thirst all day but didn t get a bottle of water until like 9pm when Miguel came on. Other than that organizational issue, this is an event I would recommend to my friends.

It was a great festival but the only thing was missing was chairs, more water stations and food vendors !!! Those lines was sooooooooooooo long for water I didn t even get any. We should be able to bring chairs also since there no grass. But music wise it was great !

All those people with no drama the hugest event i ever been too and was the best!!

There have been bigger events in the past with phone functionality. I don t understand

Didn t even let him finish his performance. Replaced him with boring hype mans. Wasted my money. Venue was crowded to the point you couldn t buy food if you wanted to. Terrible experience all around.

Overall great experience but there should be more organization at the food and beverage lines

I do believe that this event could have been amazing. Great line up of acts. In a central location. However, there were not enough food and drink vendors. The lines were ridiculously long. There should have also been someone in the main stage in between acts. Perhaps a DJ, comedian, ...

The performers were amazing and the lineup offered everything I would want out of a festival. However the main purpose of Broccoli City was lost and felt more like an afterthought. The logistics of the event did not seem to line up with Broccoli City's goals of environmental justice. There should have been way more areas to throw away trash and to recycle. In general there should have also been a greater emphasis on picking up waste and keeping the venue clean. In addition to that, reusable water bottles should have been allowed into the event as well as water refilling stations at the venue. At other festivals, reusable water bottles are allowed in under the condition that they are emptied beforehand. If environmental sustainability is really a goal, then why force everyone to buy $3 boxed water and not even give people a place to recycle it which also forces them to leave it laying on the ground? I loved the festival but don't preach your goals to the audience and then not follow through with them. I will be back but please fix these issues for next year.

Broccoli city was lit. The lines need better be planning.Where were the vendors? However performances were at expectations and then some. Line up will be hard to top!

This was an epic event that I plan to attend again! I loved seeing so many people of color having a great time

While the line-up is BEYOND amazing...you are stuck standing in countless lines. Lines are expected but this was just disorganized.

Everyone was peaceful. The venue was great. No dust or muddy grass like other concerts. The food and bathroom lines were long. The tickets were cheap.

It was a great time, but definitely need more volunteers to work lines and maintain order throughout the event. Also think more seating and allowing people to bring in lawn chairs to come inside the venue would be beneficial as well. The artist lineup was amazing!!!!

This was my second year attending and the first year I bought VIP but ticket master had an issue this year so I couldn t purchase VIP. Now Broccoli fest actually stands for the good of the community by being proactive in ways that many people or other festivals don t. It has a good message which is why I like going. I do not know if I ll return for the simple fact that it always seems to rain (only gone 2 times lol but enough). If you ve never been, def worth experiencing it. If you have been here or anything other festival it s chaos. I got there late so missed half the line up and when I did get in I was hungry so managed to get on a sold out line. I swear food is always a mission at these things. The service was terrible! God forbid you and your friend separate, you weren t going to reach them until you were in a good service spot. It was Cardi s last performance and it was a short set. MIGUEL was surprisingly Amazing. I mean good artist always liked his music but a lively presence on stage. Last but not least, migos and they came out late when it was windy and rainy. The music at one point cut off and that s when I decided to leave to avoid the crazy Lyft surcharges. But all in all it was okay. You get what you paid for whether it was up to your liking.

I love the message & the line up of performances of this event. I suggest you guys have more than one tent for water & soda so the crowd can stay hydrated since we are there from 12pm to 10:30 pm. And faster food service, it took over an hour to grab food and the food vendors didn t have drinks so you had to wait in another line to get something to drink but overall I had a great time and will definitely come back next year but I ll be more prepared.

The line was extremely long to get in, which was expected. The issue with that is there was absolutely no order in the line, matter of fact there were no lines! It was just a crowd of people pushing and shoving to make it to the front. Also the food lines were ridiculously long. The venue had 30,000 people, therefore the food should ve been prepared in advance. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have made-to-order food trucks should not be asked to come back for next year. Some food trucks only had 1 line with thousands of people in it. They also ran out of food which they should ve been better prepared for. The trash cans were so spaced out people decided to just throw their food on the ground. The hosts in between acts were annoying, they ranted about cultural appropriation to make other races feel uncomfortable rather than just playing music. Terrible event. Most likely will not return.

It was disappointing that an event that began as a celebration of earth day would have trash and wasted food on the ground as far as the eye could see. I think next year better logistics are needed.

Definitely enjoyed myself at Broccoli City Festival. The information, the options for food and drinks were dope. The shows were amazing. The only things I d change would be making the ID Check process a part of the ticket check and the parking directions. Having to get wanded and get your bag checked separately AND then check tickets and THEN ID is a bit much when you think about the lines and number of people. If there were a little more direction or signage pointing in the direction of lots that weren t full yet, I wouldn t have spent so much time locating parking.

Great festival! This is my third time going and I will definitely be back next yeat!

The acts this year were amazing - Miguel was definitely the highlight of the night. BUT, it took us over an hour just to get water (which had to be paid for) in just one line, for us to wait another hour in another line for food. Several people passed out because of the heat and dehydration - there should definitely be free water stations next year! It was not safe!

2018 was my 3rd or 4th time attending Broccoli Fest. The Festival has always been amazing. But, this year felt thrown together. It did not seem as if the organizers consulted with other festivals around the world that host 30,000+. There weren't even enough trash cans. Trash was flying everywhere- this event began with an Earth focus. The flying trash was ironic. Attendees purchased water in the same lines as wine, beer, and cocktails- that obviously did not work well for anyone that needed just water. The drink lines were also extensive. There were not enough food vendors in the space for 30,000+. The lines were VERY VERY long. We were in line for 2 hours to eat food. How could I almost forget the entry... We were herded under an overpass and made to stand in 2/3 more sets of lines. It literally took more than an hour. I have never had this poor of an experience at a festival.

The venue was ok. It was big and able to hold 30,000 people that attended the festival. A major con is you couldn't bring a chair so you had to stand the entire festival. Standing on concrete for all those hours definitely hurts. It would be great if they could move it to a grassy area where people could sit down and relax but also stand in the front if they want to be closer to the stage. The stage was also very small for the venue. There also needs to be more food trucks. The lines for the food trucks was ridiculous. You literally had to wait an hour or more just to get to the window. The vendors were great. I loved seeing all of their merchandise and what they had to offer. The venue definitely had a lot of porta potties which was great. It would be good if they could have scattered there throughout the venue instead of keeping them in the back. Overall, I would go to the festival again but since its on concrete, I would only go back if they had a performer I really loved.

It rains every year, so that was to be expected. I appreciated the free sparkling water being passed out. Especially considering there were no water stations. Free ferris wheel rides, and mounds of trash every where. It's a fairly new festival, so I forsee it getting better with age.

I enjoye my time at Broccli City Fest! I would advise that people eat before getting there as the lines for drinks and food was very undesirable. Some lines were more than an hour long and by that time you were just tired of standing in line. I hope there will be more food v nodes next year, especially since some vendors ran out of food half way through the night.

Broccoli Fest 2018 fell on my 27th birthday so I was super excited about going. I was mad at myself for missing HER and Daniel because I love them both. THEM LINES THO! It was good experience and I will definitely go again but would hope for a little more formation.

Broccoli Fest was great but it needs a lot more organization. I've been to over 15 festivals and have a lot of recommendations. Here are a few: Wristbands for drinking sound be checked when you go in, two entries, more food lines (maybe have one more section for this that is an exact duplicate of the others), fixtures would be nice to create the atmosphere, ferris wheel was a nice start. small stations for ice cream, churros, water, etc.

I enjoyed the line-up and the crowd at Broccoli Fest. It's still a relatively new music festival and I appreciate their values and principles. They need to focus on expanding their resources (crowd control, access to water, etc.) to meet the growing crowds. I would recommend this festival to others.

The festival was okay. Great lineup. But it just felt OK. I could have saved my money.

This is my second Broccoli event and the first one was a great time! This was a terrible experience. The lines were absolutely too long. There was no organization (ropes) or anything to section off the lines just mass groups of people. Waited for over an hour and still didn t get food or water. Bathrooms were not conviently placed. And the sound went out during the Migos performance. There was absolutely no seating for anybody! Your there all day and can sit no where but on the ground. Needs a lot of work

Overall the festival was amazing! The venue was huge lots of walking and no chairs to sit down so be prepared for that. Also the food lines towards the end of the evening were ridiculous I m talking 3/4 hour wait for food. In that restrospect if you want to eat at the venue, get there early!!!! They also had a lot of cool events as well that are free plus artwork that have displayed which is good for pictures. It s a lot of standing lol my feet were killing me but it was worth it

In previous years BC Fest was at St. Elizabeths, which was a large enough venue that they were able to hold 2 stages and still have plenty of room for people to walk around, have multiple restaurants with very short lines, among other things. With RFK, everything is so congested that the entire event was just a mess. I got to RFK at 4:30 and didn't get inside the parking lot area until 5:30. Then, I decided to stand in line to get drinks (BIG mistake) and it took nearly 80 minutes. I didn't get to the stage until about 6:45. This kind of an experience for a festival is unjustifiable IMO. For a $95 ticket especially. I've been to the past 3 BC Festivals but I won't be returning next year if it's at RFK again. Shoutout to Miguel though he puts on an incredible show.

Overall the event was decent. The venue map and the set list were provided in advance, which was helpful. However, as more and more people arrived lines for food and drink were absolute chaos. There were no rails or ropes separating each vendor and lines were four and five people wide so it was impossible to see where a line for one place started and the other one ended. Also stood in line for Jerk@Nite for an hour and 30 minutes because of that.

The alcoholic beverage and food stations need to be more organized. The bartenders were allowing individuals that failed to receive their wristbands to leave the line to get a wristband and return while holding the line for them. Also they were not moving as quickly as necessary.

My team and I got there around 2pm and that made a huge difference as far as quickness with food truck lines and vendors being able to really decide and make a selection. The artist was more visible. Being that this was the biggest broccoli fest all in all it was successful in my eyes just the lines at a certain point was ridiculous but the artist line up was AMAZING LIVE!!

This was the 3rd time I ve attended Broccoli Fest and it was the most unorganized festival yet. Lines were not structured and people were just in hudge bunches to enter the venue, purchase food/drinks, and to use the rest rooms. No communication or help from staff memebers. Cardi B and The Migos seemed uninterested in performing. The sound went out for two Migos songs and they didn t stop the show or run it back. Miguel was hands down the best performer, he engaged with the crowd and wasn t rushing off the stage!

Dope event ! Genuine & lots of fun. Would do it again

I was expecting a little more for a festival that has been sold out forever.VIP tickets weren t released on the same day as GA tickets. Artist did not perform on time, there were no real lines & wait times for beverages averaged almost an hour. I think attending the event during the day is much better than the evening.

Good event for a good cause! Miguel was my favorite

Great event, great food and great staff for crowd size

DOPE festival! This was my second time attending , the first time I volunteered via my Alma Mater. I Highly recommend everyone to hop onboard with Broccoli City year round. I would recommend water stations in close convenient locations & more trash cans. Overall super satisfied and will be returning

The music was cool, but major points deducted with lack of line organization to enter the fest as well as for food and drinks. Then vendors ran out of food, while people had already been waiting in line for 40+ minutes... Spent the majority of the fest standing in line and waiting... I was not entertained enough for the worth of the ticket.

The lines for the food vendors were ridiculously out of order. You would think the people running the food vendors would enforce lines but the didn t. I waited in line for about an hour and a half (the whole nipsey hustle performance, and most of the time waiting for cardi B to come to stage) just for them to tell me they were out of half of their menu. We stood shoulder to shoulder invading personal space of others just to be in line. While I waited at least 2 people passed out.There weren t any dividers for each vendor. There weren t enough trash cans or benches to sit .

Although the artist selection was great, for 12 hours there was no place to sit. Food line wait was over 1 1/2 hours. Absolutely ridiculous. And there was no coordination with Metro, so train wait times were 20 minutes.

The artists were amazing! They all put on a great show. I love Miguel s performance the most. However, standing on concrete that long almost broke my back! Please have a more walking friendly venue next time.

not enough portapottys. food lines were obnoxiously long and slow paced. great selection of preformers. glad they move the fest to a concrete lot this year.

The venue was nice. I wasn't happy when the security guard at check-in made me throw my umbrella away. Other than that, everything was nice.

this event was great besides trash being EVERYWHERE

The concert was good, the venue for previous years was the best. The process of getting inside the stadium was horrible. The lines for water were entirely too long. Next year have more staff working the festival. Make water more accessible. And also table and sitting space as well.

The event was very unorganized. Y all need to take more time in organizing the event.

This was my first time attending Broccoli City Festival and I don't regret it! For a relatively small price, there were many great artists performing. Aside from the music, there was great food, art, and other booths to enjoy. The festival had a great meaning behind it as well, it's all about helping the community and environment. The only downside was the lack of seating. There were a few benches but for a 10+ hour day with 30,000+ people, it would've been nice if there were more places to sit. Overall, I had a great time at this event and I will be attending again next year!

I waited a hour and 30 minutes for food. All lines were backed up. No trash cans near by trash all over the ground.

My experience was tarnished by the long lines and standing in trash. There weren t enough garbage cans so there was literally garbage everywhere. I feel like I spent the whole time in line. When we got there it took forever to even get in. Once we were inside the food lines were a nightmare. I couldn t even get water without being in a ridiculously long line. I ve never been to an event that was so unprepared for the amount of people they presold tickets to.

Could use more trash cans, and better organized lines for the food vendors.

This was my third year coming to BCFest, and I was extremely disappointed in how the event turned out this year. I'm not sure who came up with the idea to house 30,000 people in a parking lot, but that was dumb. The food and drink vendors were also unprepared to host 30,000 people. Waiting hours in line for the vendors to be sold out when you FINALLY reach the front, is insane! I am sad to say but the authenticity and allure of BCFest has faded. I hope they get it right in the future.

There was an extremely long line to get into the venue. THEN I stood in line for THREE hours just to get a cheeseburger. Missing at least 3 performances. The vendors were unprepared for such a long crowd and had ONE grill going for burgers and literally trying to thaw out the meat in front of us. I never got a drink because I would ve been in that line extremely long as well. They made us throw out snacks in our backpacks and water. It was a mess. I will never return to broccoli fest.

The best part of the whole event was cardi b. I know this because after she was done performing and it started raining a little everyone left. Still had two acts but everyone was over waiting hour or more in food lines to get to the front and have them say they are out or the food to be horrible and overpriced. There were two stages but i have no idea why the second stage was just a dj booth. they were behind on all the acts, parking and getting in was odd. I am used to going to festivals like the MIA in philly or edm festivals in atlanta. All in all i was not impressed and will only come back if they have someone i really want to see.

I have never been to a festival that was so filthy!! They had thousands of people, and did not clean up any trash. Food, drinks, plastic just laying all over. Would never go again!

I've been following the growth of Broccoli City as an organization for years. The festival has grown simultaneously. This was clearly the biggest festival to date. Well organized and appropriately staffed. Very happy for you guys. The two stages worked well. The only recommendation I have is water stations. I was so dehydrated and every place either ran out of water or was saving water for themselves. I was quite crazy. And since I was the only person that followed the rules and didn't bring a water bottle, I was suffering through the fun. No fault of theirs. I am sure next year you will have a water sponsor with endless water to provide. Let's keep the price point at where it was. Certainly got my monies worth. If Broccoli Con can be later in the day for those who just really can't afford to miss work that would be nice. I can keep going on and on. Overall, congratulations.