What really happened at the Solis Festival

• Hundreds of fake-ticket holders stormed the venue and climbed onto the VIP stage which collapsed.
• Following the incident, several attendees both women and men came forth with their stories of being groped and harassed.

The much anticipated Solis Music and Arts Festival which was held on Saturday in Islamabad, was halted midway when hundreds of fake-ticket holders stormed the venue which caused the VIP stage to collapse.

The festival was held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts. Only two out of the five performers got to play their set before the concert was gatecrashed. Several people climbed onto the VIP stage which collapsed as a result of overcrowding and caused injuries.

People also trashed the place, destroying the stage and enclosures.

Following the incident, several attendees both women and men came forth with their stories of being groped and harassed. A woman with a VIP ticket recounted her experience after the stage collapsed. "When I regained consciousness, a guy had 'fallen' on top of me... moving his hands all over my body 'trying to get up'. I pushed him and [then] he spit on me. I tried to get up but I couldn't," she posted on social media.

She further said that when she reached her friends one of her friend got groped and cornered by three guys whilst she was looking for us. "Even my guy friends got harassed and got his phone stolen. I have bruises all over my body, my friends are in the hospital, some are traumatised," she said.

vip platform was super unstable. idk what exactly caused it but it fell over. everyone fell over, glass tables shattered, n some people were bleeding. they still continued playing for a bit but then the whole event stopped n there were like ... riots?? people broke the stage??

— (@mayazafarr) February 15, 2020

Another attendee, Shanza G posted graphic images of her injuries on Instagram. "It’s just 30 minutes in, we’re at the front dancing and I blackout. What I realize next is the entire vip lounge collapsing. It was almost 7 feet high and I lost consciousness for a minute bec ig that’s just how your brain responds," she posted.

 

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15.02.2020 its just 30 minutes in, we’re at the front dancing and I BLACKOUT what I realize next is the entire vip lounge COLLAPSING. it was almost 7 feet high and i lost consciousness for a minute bec ig that’s just how your brain responds. i remember as soon as i regain consciousnesses half a minute later i’m in trauma, unaware of what just happened, me, my sis, my brother and my friends are helplessly trying to get up, i swear i couldn’t figure out what’s happening, ALL I REMEMBER IS ME STRUGGLING TO GET UP and a guy starts snatching my bag, (i was wearing a crossbody bag and it was in my neck) i literally thought I’d suffocate or my neck’s going to break and the guys there pick up the grill and start pushing it back while we’re stuck in it. my sister’s screaming and so is my friend. i look at @saishaa.g and her leg’s stuck underneath the grill and some guy’s on top of her. my sister’s phone fell somewhere there and it’s lost now bec somebody picked it up. we’re panicking, getting stamped upon and literally no ones helping bec in this moment these filthy frustrated assholes get a chance and start touching, groping and harassing us, it took me a moment to realise what they’re doing bec I was in absolute hysteria. my body was aching bec of the injuries. i was almost numb @solisfestival continued and the DJs didn’t even stop the music. my lil brother helped us all get up with his forehead bleeding and then we rushed straight out. what we see out is literally a group of men following a girl who’s walking her way in, a guy legit slapping a girl who accused him of harassing and a whole lotta other shit. we couldn’t walk. idk how we made it to the car but not a single person was there to HELP. we went straight to the hospital, my tissues and muscles of the leg are torn, my bestfriend got her leg fractured, my sister’s hands were bleeding and her thighs bruised. A TRAGIC SOLIS NIGHT ONCE AGAIN! WHERE ARE YOU NOW @solisfestival? IS THIS THE SAFETY YOU PROVIDE FOR A 10K TICKET? HOW TF ARE YOU PLANNING ON COMPENSATING THE PHYSICAL PAIN AND MENTAL TRAUMA, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, THE GRAVE LOSS OF A LIFE AND THE PAIN WE’RE STILL GOING THROUGH?

A post shared by shanz (@shanza.g) on Feb 16, 2020 at 2:09am PST

Following the uproar on social media, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat took to twitter and said an inquiry was underway and a FIR has been registered. He added that company behind the festival had been blacklisted.

FIR is being registered. Report is ready. Inquiry is under process. @ICT_Police. Company is already blacklisted and will not be allowed any future event in Islamabad. https://t.co/wFJs3ffYj9

— Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) February 16, 2020

The Solis Festival organizers also issued two statements via their Instagram account. "We had to make the difficult decision to stop the event due to hundreds of individuals who fought their way through with fake tickets," the organizers posted.

These people were denied entry, but broke our barricades and forced themselves in, climbing on VIP platforms which couldn’t take the weight and destroyed our stage putting everyone’s safety at risk, Solis said.

 

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DEAR ISLAMABAD What was borne from a love of music and wanting to share a piece of the international music world to Pakistan, Solis provided entertainment that didn’t exist and became a community based on peace and unity, bringing together homegrown businesses that supported our economy and put Pakistan on the map. Despite all the challenges of putting together such an experience in Pakistan (the things you don’t see behind the scenes like finding the right speakers, pyro, the security gates that need to be built from scratch, to convincing our artists that Pakistan is indeed safe and beautiful), we made it happen. Not once, not even 3 times in 2019, but for the 4th time yesterday in Islamabad till the incident hours after doors opened. We chose the venue and our security based on the number of tickets sold and made arrangements based on this. We warned against fake tickets on numerous occasions. However, we underestimated the sheer volume of thousands of “fake tickets” that were being sold illegally. These people were denied entry, but broke our barricades and forced themselves in, climbing on VIP platforms which couldn’t take the weight and destroyed our stage putting everyone’s safety at risk. To those that believed in us and came to genuinely enjoy the show, we are deeply sorry that this experience was ruined by others. We know that you came far and wide and we know how much you were looking forward to this event as we were too. For you, our true fans, we absolutely could not put your safety and security at risk and had to stop the event. What some of you didn’t see was the further damage these individuals caused after we shut down the event. Crores Of damage have set us back even further. WE are a community. WE are responsible for changing mindsets- together! While we will hold on Solis indefinitely in Islamabad, we will NOT let this define us. We will LEARN and PERSEVERE and keep giving Pakistan an experience they haven’t had before, much like we have done in the past. We will NOT let the actions of a few decide for the rest of us. We will be back.

A post shared by Solis Music & Arts Festival (@solisfestival) on Feb 16, 2020 at 4:16am PST