Central Point, Ore. — Excitement filled the grounds Thursday at The Expo for the first day of the Country Crossings Music Festival, all to the tunes of Jake Owen and Bailey Bryan. But it was what happened after the music that left concertgoers frustrated and quiet.
“It’s just too much waiting. I think the promoters bit off more than they can chew,” said concertgoer Kelly Resh. She was just one of the many concertgoers complaining of long wait times at day one of the festival.
“Miserable with the parking situation, the line situation, waiting for the bus,” Resh said.
Resh knows the situation well.
“People who are standing and waiting and have a long ways to go,” she said.
She said she and her friends waited for two hours before getting on a bus.
“That was a short wait compared to some others,” she said.
That was a common theme throughout the evening.
“We walked. We walked a mile because the shuttle was outrageous. The lines were up to here,” she said.
Concertgoers also said it wasn’t just the shuttles with long lines.
“Well jeez, the food lines were 30 minutes, the beer line was double that,” said another concertgoer.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office can’t help there, but they still stepped up big time.
“We took on a line trying to get people out of here with the buses and stuff,” said Sheriff Nathan Sickler, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Day one of this massive 4-day festival proving to be a learning experience, but adjustments are already being made.
“Tonight the plan is to have the buses on a bit more timely route and to have them staged here at the end of the show so people won’t have to experience what they did last night,” said Sheriff Sickler.
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