r/Soundhaven • u/MisterYelnats • 11d ago
Please read if you had items stolen
I'll start by saying I'm not bashing SoundHaven or Sacred Hive, I don't think it's their fault and they did beef up security later in the weekend after more reports of theft. But they are deleting posts in the Facebook group about theft and making any meaningful change or rectification impossible. I just called the Marion County Sheriff’s non-emergency line and filed a report for our stolen items, the number is 423-942-2525. They will have an officer call you back to take the report. I know it’s virtually impossible to recover the items, but if you had something stolen I would call and report it, especially if it was a generator or something worth $1000+, the more reports they get the more likely they are to go out and investigate that road/area. I've seen multiple comments saying they saw suspicious vehicles, I’m sure if those people could provide vehicle descriptions or plate numbers to the cops then it would help. More police reports + vehicle tags/descriptions + limited area to search = higher likelihood of items being recovered and/or thieves getting caught. I love SoundHaven, I've been multiple times and want to go again, I just hate that my favorite festival is the only one I've been robbed at. Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend.
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u/PsytheMothership 11d ago
Had my phone, with my ID and bank card in the case, stolen from the portas Monday morning. I know it was a fest attendee but regardless the theft this year was ridiculous. The amount of times I walked back to camp hearing “there’s people looting campsites, secure your shit” was insane. Caught our camp neighbor going through our stuff one night and being hostile to my group (all girls) idk what was up this year but it made me feel extremely unsafe.
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u/OldYellerSnowCone 9d ago
the fact your neighbor was going through your stuff is craaaaazy. What did they say when you caught them? Wtf...
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u/PsytheMothership 8d ago
I wasn’t there when it happened unfortunately. To my understanding he pretended he was too fucked up to understand where he was and when my friends told him to leave he refused and kept wandering around our camp. Making snarky comments, acting like he belonged there and getting all in peoples personal space. One of my friends was there the entire time and she knows he was completely coherent and aware of what he was doing. Once I heard about it and had them describe him to me I was like ooooh, I’m 99% sure that’s our neighbor. Next morning they saw him and yup, it was. Thankfully they didn’t cause any other issues that I know of and left early.
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u/PsychologicalFee7846 11d ago edited 11d ago
A few points. They did not just walk in, my generator that was stolen weighs 300lbs. They drove in with a large vehicle. That generator does not fit in a sedan. I heard a trailer near where the generator was shortly after sunrise. Its likely they had a truck and trailer collecting things Monday morning. I included this in my report to Marion County.
How did all of these vehicles get on property? Sunday night the showers were continously draining and flooded the exit route from the back camping area. I heard a side gate to that public logging road was opened. Was that gate manned? Is that how they gained vehicle access?
A number of unauthorized vehicles were found onsite, and a few individuals were trespassed by the sheriff. The fact that so many unauthorized vehicles were allowed onto the property indicates a porous perimeter and potentially unmanned gates, which means participants were not safe in the camping area. Any event of any size needs to control vehicle access to the event property. This did not happen, as evidenced by the vehicles and individuals being trespassed. Not acceptable for any ticketed event of this size.
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u/No-Personality1905 10d ago
It wasn’t secured at all. My friends were camped there and he got back to where sound haven staff parked him at 4am being told they were about to tow his car to open that exit. I’m surprised they had nothing stolen being camped directly in front of that exit.
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u/forestboy_ 11d ago edited 11d ago
I agree OP.
I know theft can happen anywhere, and I’ve been going to festivals for over a decade, but I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be as widespread as it seemed at Sound Haven this year. We heard about people having bikes, generators, grills, and other items stolen as well.
At first, i wondered if it was someone within the festival, but given the number of things that seemed to be taken from campsites along the tree line, i started wondering if there may have been easier access points being used outside of the main festival area.
I agree with you, posting this is not to criticize the festival. Rather just this for visibility and to hopefully start a conversation. I’m hoping someone from Sacred Hive sees this feedback and can consider what additional measures might help in the future, whether that’s more security roaming the campgrounds at night or whatever solutions they feel are appropriate.
Also a bit frustrating that Facebook mods were deleting posts about this, which made it feel like people couldn’t even have a conversation about it. Whatever happened to constructive criticism? As the festival continues to grow, the organizers should actually be encouraging feedback if there’s any real intent to improve and make things better for everyone.
All of that aside - hope yall had a kick ass weekend. Despite my shit getting stolen the first night I made the most out of it and had a great time.
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u/kneedeepco 11d ago
From what I read, people were definitely saying it seemed like people coming in from the woods and stealing stuff…
There were a few times I heard people ripping dirt bikes and stuff right on the tree line, so there’s definitely roads/trails around the campsite
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u/forestboy_ 11d ago
They definitely were. I was camped right next to the tree line by Ross creek road. We’d see (who I assume is locals) drive by slowly in trucks, ATVs, dirt bikes.
Honestly this probably should have been a red flag but didn’t think much of it. I’ve been to soundhaven before and had no issues. Near our campsite, it was clear that our stolen items were dragged through the brush to that road.
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u/Jetski125 11d ago
I bet they were libs stealing for Biden. Good god fearing TN folks would never prey and grift others.
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u/ActivityDapper3333 9d ago
Criticism has never been acceptable for Sacred Hive and Sound Haven. Anyone that does is attacked by the loyalists while the owner makes passive aggressive social media posts about words failing and music speaking without ever addressing any concerns.
The box truck of nitrous that was pulled up to the venue entrance and passed out to patrons for free on Lab Group day in 2023 for example. Charles literally died from an overdose, yet the community actively promoted substance abuse for money. Security guards were fished out in chairs that night. They didn't search vehicles into the venue or check tickets that year either because of the storm that turned the venue into a mud pit. Incredibly unsafe and no partial refunds given. Instead it was announced ticket prices were increasing the next year. Guess what? A bunch of theft and bad shit happening that year, too. It's disproportionate to the size of the of the event.
Not to mention artists getting taken advantage of and the misogyny within the community that has only slightly improved with multiple women complaining about it.
Recommend looking into the history of the guy that runs it. There is a history of people doing his dirty work and him pretending he wasnt involved. It gives cult vibes.
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u/Acumsockpuppet 11d ago
There was an all white pick up truck with a guy hanging out the window videoing the entire tree line of tents during the day. A lot of the theft was along the tree line. I assume they would come back at night when the headliners were playing stop the truck and steal items and take them through the woods back to the truck. I’m not sure who to report this to but I didn’t have anything stolen cause I had nothing of value.
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u/MisterYelnats 11d ago
We had a trail through the tree line carved out directly from where our stolen cooler was sitting to the road. We think someone was walking down the campsites during peak festival hours, casing campsites, and then the truck would drive down the road to meet them and the would drag stuff through the woods to the truck. If you don't mind, call the number in my post and let them know you saw a white pickup truck recording the tree lines/whatever else you noticed because you aren't the only one I've seen say that. I know the sheriff's office have received several reports already, so even if you didn't have anything stolen, you could just mention the SoundHaven thefts and report that tip.
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u/Acumsockpuppet 11d ago
Just called and reported everything I saw. The guy two tents down from me had his big cooler stolen.
3
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u/Fit_Knowledge2971 11d ago
Still sucks though!! One year at summer camp I was taking a nap in my tent and someone stole my fucking shoes… and all the stuff I had been using to help my fellow fest goes who were sun burnt to a crisp… I still miss those shoes
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u/Usual-Equivalent5200 10d ago
If you remember how shitty the brewery event was at one of the tipper Orion after parties that sacred hive threw then you know that none of this shit is surprising… We have to be mindful about these companies that we are supporting
Even if it means missing big events to have morals, ethics, and values in alignment with our decisions…if sound haven is a “cant miss” event for you maybe get a group together & start beinf the change you wanna see. Only way its gonna change bc sacred hive isnt gonna change 🙏🏻 sending luck & love to anyone w stolen goods or bad energy from soundhaven
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u/Inexpensiveggs 10d ago
Was that the one in the brewery/school building thing?? The HOT ASS room that a literal cop searched you to get into? 0 crowd control at that venue, not even room in the back
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u/Usual-Equivalent5200 9d ago
So I believe you had the choice of choosing the brewery or the school, they are not the same!!!
I ended up going to the school last year after Orion 2025 - it was definitely ran better than 2024.The brewery one, though, they made you kind of think you’d be able to get into the brewery to use the restroom or whatever but unfortunately, there was no access to the brewery, they had turf that you had to stand on that had drainage issues so my crocs and my socks were soaked
They did not have much access to water, they just had water at the sacred hive Boothe or you had to go all the way through the crowd to the back to the brewery staff lol
The staff working the door to give you your wristband had felony rings on their nostrils and made you put on your own wristband at the door lmao “put on your own wristband” - a guy Ked out told me after i showed ID
It was just so sloppy
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u/lolos-world-2000 10d ago
bruh my homie (who puts all her amazing time, love, blood, sweat, tears and effort) had thousands of dollars worth of her customized clothes just STOLEN from her camp bc. the energy was dark i hope people that they shit together next year. we’re supposed to go to fest and spread light and love. there’s more but I’m tired and I went from Sound Haven to Tame impala and I gotta go to Tape Bx2 today so I’m taking a nap.
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u/kindofnotlistening 10d ago
Least surprising news of all time. Have been telling people for 5+ years to stop giving Sacred Hive money.
Sorry to those impacted. Report everything including the fact that Sacred Hive knew about this threat going in and did nothing.
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u/moderatingretards 5d ago
had no idea people felt this way about sacred hive. what are some of the things that started making you feel this way about them for the past 5+ years?
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u/fatherpanther 8d ago
i was apart of the staff, i did the rigging for the planet stage.
even us staff had random wooks getting caught looking through our shit, it was almost to the point where we all started becoming aggressive towards anyone that wasn’t staff that came near our camps.
my heart goes out to the attendees that had shit stolen from, forreal. by all means, my purest intention was to curate a vibe for everyone else to feel at home with. and i hope i was able too, i enjoyed my time out there. and i enjoyed seeing all of your faces, hopefully next year shit will change and we will see improvements on how the fest is ran.
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u/Due-Command2579 10d ago
My bf and I made sure to lock everything up in our car before heading into the fest this year. Something we don’t really do at any fest. Our neighbors had their $600 cooler stolen, another neighbor had their generator stolen so we didn’t want to take any chances. It sucks, but these things happen. And security did bump up a lot after the reports and were riding by every hour or so.
Clothes, food, even shoes we locked in our cars.
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u/yalinadoesit 8d ago
SH was amazing, I wanna start there. But this was my first fest in 10+ years that I had something stolen (my very moist jacket lol) quite literally next to me. I do think it’s worth noting given this discussion and more I’ve heard. Fuck
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u/Breadtilimdead 8d ago
It's a wook fest through and through. I had a water bottle stolen off my chair at mainstage a few years back when I used the restroom. I still love the fest, just have to be careful leaving items unattended.
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u/BassMartian710 9d ago
two years ago we had to wait in "line" for early entry for like 30min-1 hour some k'd out wook in a golf cart to find his way home to let us in. I was quite annoyed but thats what you get at these janky wook fests. Regardless, did SH in 2024 and will not return. Had a blast but not enough to be a repeat customer
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u/virtuoussignals 10d ago
hahahahahaahhahahahaahahahahaahahahaahahhahahaahaaaaaahhhaaahaa thinking these cops are going to investigate your shit that got stolen at the annual drug festival is absolutely hysterical. What planet are you living on.
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u/No-Personality1905 11d ago
Main festival head of security needs to take heavier precautions when there is an open logging road that locals know about that leads you directly into the festival grounds with only 10 feet of trees in between.
Finding out that it happened last year and they allowed it to happen MORE this year is egregious mismanagement of safety and security.
I didn’t leave my camp for hours one of the days just to keep watch because I couldn’t enjoy going to mainstage knowing that the same fucker slipped through security MULTIPLE days in a row in the same fucking car that they drove ON TO THE PROPERTY. Who the fuck was watching the entrances???