I purchased tickets for the Honeyland Food and Music Festival held in Sugar Land, Texas, on the weekend of November 11th and 12th in July of 2023. Front Gate Tickets (FGT) originally billed this as a food and music festival, and over a period of 3 months, the festival switched from food and music to a music festival with samplings of food.
FGT began to switch out what was included in the tickets we purchased. A $50 food credit was omitted in one email we were sent even though it was initially included in my VIP ticket price. Additionally, we were given the option at time of purchase to have tickets shipped to us for $11. FGT refunded the shipping fees without indicating that we would now have to pick up our tickets at will-call locations. It wasn't until I sent an email asking what the refund was for and how tickets would be received that they informed me of the change. FGT decided not to ship tickets, forcing people to pick them up at a will call in Houston, Texas. Because we live in San Antonio, we decided to drive to a specific location, mainly the Chifley Hotel in Houston, Texas, to pick up our tickets. This decision felt inevitable to avoid long lines at the event itself, which we witnessed once we arrived at the festival.
FGT failed to post the schedule of events, including food presentations, music performances, and parking instructions, until 3 days before the event. On the day of the event, in the very early morning hours, around 12:30 or 1:00 in the morning of November 11th, FGT posted a social media post on Instagram stating that VIP parking was no longer available and that people who purchased VIP parking through their VIP passes would have to park in a parking lot and take a shuttle to the event. FGT never sent an email about the parking situation. As a result, there were massive crowds of people attempting to park and catch shuttles to the event, or they were left with the option as we were to walk back to our vehicles to leave the event.
Once we arrived at the event, the promised VIP entrance and VIP Fast Lanes were closed off. These entrances were included in the VIP package that I purchased, and because they were closed off, we had to wait in a GA or general admission line even though we paid to have the upgraded faster access through the VIP entrances.
Once inside the festival, we attempted to access a General Admission Plus area included in our VIP package. When I attempted to scan my wristband to enter this area, an employee of front gate tickets physically restrained me from doing so. When I showed her that my ticket included GA Plus lounge access, she said FGT told her to deny access to anyone but GA+ pass holders. Attempts by other people to show them that we were allowed to enter based on the fact that we were VIP pass holders were ignored or shut down by this employee. I took a video of the employee telling me we would not be allowed access to this area and that FGT decided to prevent access to VIP pass holders.
When we attempted to use our merchandise credit for $25, the staff member at the booth told us that to use the card, we had to spend at least $50. This "rule" was a bait and switch on the part of FGT because none of the disclaimers or terms of service indicated that to use the merchandise credit, we would have to spend a minimum amount.
My sole purpose for purchasing the tickets was because I am a food writer and chef, and my main interest was attending the festival's food portion. Besides the switch from "Food and Music Festival" to a music festival, no food samples were available, as with most food festivals. All the food had to be purchased, and the wait time to get food from these vendors exceeded one and a half hours. Besides the fact that there were extremely long lines, there was not enough food for the attendees, so despite waiting in long lines for hours, we were turned away twice because the vendor did not have any more food available. As a result, we went to a food festival expecting to be able to sample different types of food and didn't eat anything at all.
Additionally, there was a severe lack of lighting on the festival grounds, which resulted in people not being able to see where they were going while walking on a muddy field. The bathrooms were not lit due to a lack of lighting on the festival grounds, rendering them useless.
The wait for shuttles back to the parking lot where we were forced to park exceeded 2 hours. I have a video of a virtually empty parking lot within yards of the main entrance where we entered the festival. This parking lot could have been used for a VIP parking lot. I later discovered that the VIP parking lot was a cement parking lot, so the weather did not affect it, which is the reason for the closure, according to FGT.
This company is shady and a total money grab. I don't recommend them. read more