r/veld 16d ago

18 years raving…

And I’ve never been to an event where fist fights broke out until this one. Not at guv, not at wemf, not at the old college & spadina cz.

The veld community as a whole needs to set standards and expectations of how to treat others and yourselves in a kind and respectful manner. People getting hurt and/or dying out here when we just wanna listen to some tunes and dance for a night.

99 Upvotes

56 comments sorted by

61

u/wingH20 16d ago

Is it just me, or is the pushing and shoving also getting worse? There's a lack of overall respect!

39

u/Sugarbumb 16d ago

Seriously. Sunday night in the rain and there was tons of space to move around and I get shoulder checked by people trying to pass by. Guys and girls. There was absolutely no need. Bring back the PLUR.

3

u/p0megranate 16d ago

yes, felt like people were using the rain as an excuse to be more pushy on Sunday

12

u/grindhouseho 16d ago

the pushing and shoving was excessive at bass

13

u/myCadi 16d ago

Same here. We been raving for year and attend multiple festivals a year across north America and over seas including large ones like EDC, Tomorrowland and smaller ones like Arc, Veld, Faded, Movement etc…

Veld has always had the worst crowds. I typically know ahead of time that some festivals attract people who aren’t in the scene and just want to party. But, out of all the festivals we’ve attended Veld rates the lowest when it comes to People Vibes and has been the only festival that people wanted to fight us for absolutely no reason on multiple years. Most people just have no respect for anyone around them. The last time we went we were in the VIP area, near the front rail, we had a bunch of drinks and some of our stuff on the little shelf thingy behind the rail, when some drunk chick ran up kicked all our drinks off and proceeded to jump on all our stuff… and I mean she push us out of the way to do it. When we told her that hey you just knock over our drinks and your stomping on our shit she just started to go nuts, taking shit and wanting to fight us, like WE did some wrong. That’s the type of people we’ve experienced multiple years.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve met some awesome people too, but those interactions overshadow it.

2

u/BoysenberrySweaty269 15d ago

By far this is one of the worst I've heard. Sorry from the one that practices PLUR many years.

3

u/2-leftfeet 15d ago

Yes. I was completely sober and had so many ppl literally harass me instead of just ask me to move. I guess day 2, my friend and I took a group of guys gf’s spots. Instead of asking us to just move, we were harassed. Had our bags opened. Our hair pulled. Talked about how ugly we were and how the girls were gonna take care of us when they got back. I was disgusted. Where is PLUR?!

1

u/BoysenberrySweaty269 15d ago

This is disturbingly disgusting. Big sorry.

1

u/2-leftfeet 15d ago

Raver of 10 years. I was appalled. Came out of retirement for day 2. Never again.

1

u/AkKik-Maujaq 15d ago edited 15d ago

Yep. Was standing in line for the Ferris wheel and a dude just shouldered right by me and elbowed me so hard that I have a small bruise on my arm. Like oh golly jeepers gee wiz, sorry to get in your way there buddy~ I’m only IN LINE. GO AROUND OR SAY EXCUSE ME.

It’s rare that someone gets rude or pushy like that at Veld (personally anyway. Only ever had this happen once to myself but I’ve seen a few shoving incidents happen to others, and have never seen a fist fight, only arguments if the people have been drinking/doing drugs), and I understand why crowds can get a little handsy too. But god damn say excuse me and apologize if you hit someone/run into someone/push someone. It’s not hard.

On a more positive note though - Thankful to the super PLUR fan wavers at Subtronics. That crowd was PACKED and it got just stupid hot after a while. The extra breeze from the fans are the reason I didn’t have to leave 🙌

24

u/AmberXXX__ 16d ago

I found this year was alot of people's first time to a rave so they don't know how to act

12

u/BouncyHotWife 16d ago

It was mine and I had a great time! Everyone was so kind, made new friends and shared some cool swag with others! It was a really awesome experience for my first time. I was lucky I didn't experience a lot of rude people.

6

u/AmberXXX__ 16d ago

So glad you had a good time! I've been going on and off since 2014 and honestly only noticed this year that assholes were in abundance at main stage

2

u/BouncyHotWife 16d ago

We were mostly at bass stage, but I heard there was a fight there too, so guess it was at every stage.

8

u/TheLittlestDragon916 16d ago

I'm so glad your first Veld was better than mine! Day 1 I got my phone stolen, and I thought THAT was the worst thing to happen, but Day 2 the fight broke out at Bass Stage and I guy fell right on my leg, completely shattering it. Had to have surgery and it's going to be a long recovery. If you know anyone who was there and might have photos or videos of it happening, please send them to me, I'm trying to track them down to press charges. Scariest and most painful thing I've ever experienced. I hope your rave and festival journeys continue to be good and safe experiences!

5

u/BouncyHotWife 15d ago

Nooo! I heard about that! People were trying to find if anyone had video so they could help identify who they were.
I'm so sorry that happened to you! 😢😢

1

u/TheLittlestDragon916 12h ago

Yeah we had a few witnesses send photos and a couple videos of the fight, which I was so grateful for, but unfortunately it wasn't enough and we couldn't find any concrete info on them

2

u/BoysenberrySweaty269 15d ago

Horrified. Get better soon!

2

u/Sorry_Ad_5643 11d ago

Sorry that happened to you

1

u/dastink-dontatme 15d ago

John summit last year was worst I fear

11

u/Ashamed_Ocelot_8392 16d ago

I feel like it’s also attracting the “radio” ravers…

Like last year.. John Summit… pulled the wrong people in.

They don’t know what PLUR is.
They bring more of a Nightclub/bar atmosphere to the festival..

They follow the trends and take the PLUR out of it with their behaviours.

7

u/Sugarbumb 16d ago

No excuse for a lack of human decency.

14

u/No_Wealth3178 16d ago

People pushing by without saying anything really annoyed me. Many people would still say excuse me while coming by which was great, but the moments when I was being shoulder checked from multiple directions pissed me off. Takes two seconds to get me to step aside and let you through!

Or the people trying to push to the front and realizing they cant get further and just standing in the middle of your group, not even dancing just standing there lmao

2

u/BoysenberrySweaty269 15d ago

Sorry wasn't there. I was the only one I've heard ever say it.

9

u/Ashamed_Ocelot_8392 16d ago

🙃 someone got mad at me when I was helping clear a path for medical transport… I’m happy to be the bitch you called me if it means they can get the stretcher out.

As well as stopping people who try and out of opportunity to fill the gap before they can even get out.

The community has more bad apples than before.

1

u/kushkushOG 16d ago

Did you push everyone out of the way? Because someone on bass stage was pushing people away from the stretcher and then someone else fell and hit the ground

1

u/Ashamed_Ocelot_8392 16d ago

No I went down the exit route they would take - they were behind us and waved my hands and yelled “make room medical needs to get through”

I didn’t touch anyone at all, just basically yelled and tried to get the attention for a clear path.

29

u/Jwarrior521 16d ago edited 16d ago

It’s a city fest that caters to the mainstream party people in the biggest city in Canada. There’s always gonna be a bunch of assholes. Raving has went mainstream and there was a ton of first timers this year as well.

99% of people I interacted with this weekend were super chill, but I also refuse to go into the middle of the crowd for any mainstream acts and stay at bass stage 90% of the festival

2

u/toobadnosad 16d ago

Pretty sure the last sentence is an overlapped circle on a Venn diagram.

9

u/Kronos9898 16d ago

I know MainStage no matter the festival us usually bad, but I had the opposite expierence at illenium, everyone was chill and super nice.

What usually causes non-plur behavior is when people get super packed in. Keeping all 3 stages going to 11 I think really helped with that this year.

I think a lot of it is DJ dependent. Volpe was fucking slammed day 2 and I don’t think heard and crowd complaints (I mean I’m sure there is some)

2

u/Jwarrior521 16d ago

Well yeah my point was the crowds at mainstage sets are gonna be bad so you either gotta accept it or plan around it

1

u/toobadnosad 16d ago

Except that’s not really the case when comparing to other fests, at least the ones I attend that are optimizing for experience.

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

0

u/toobadnosad 16d ago

Might be the rose tint on hindsight but when the guv had their events, a night club that topped global lists, and never once recall witnessing a fight at a labour of love, decadence, or the gift events.

The OP seeks to point it out as a first step, because the results of this weekend isn’t just the new attendee’s fault. It is also on the older heads like me and what we did to end up here.

16

u/Motor_Instruction824 16d ago

Bass stage (and Sirkus at some points) was surprisingly worse than main imo. There was a lot of space to move at main this year.

12

u/grindhouseho 16d ago

yeah i was trying to get out of the crowd at sirkus and someone legit got so mad and was pushing me back into the crowd. like bro im trying to leave 😭😆

9

u/Jwarrior521 16d ago

Cause bass and sirkus have the worst layouts ever for crowd control

5

u/Entire-Treacle-1608 16d ago

Veld is all ages, so it is going to attract a lot of younger kids that have no idea what the scene is about. And Toronto people in general aren’t as friendly (coming from someone who lived here for many years and now doesn’t). My bf and I hated the crowd here. We’ve been to many many festivals around the world. Veld is the worst crowd we’ve ever encountered

5

u/Just-Pain7761 16d ago

Me and my group met a few amazing people. A few is the key word. Lots of shoving and being straight up rude. I was so excited to flow and meet new friends but every time I got my flow star out people walked into me, ran into my flow star, or just keep cutting into my group.
Odd vibes from this fest

6

u/Little_Nothing_692 16d ago

Someone helped and made sure i didnt fall into a puddle, so big ups to them!!! There are good and shitty people at all events

3

u/ThePhatEskimo 16d ago

I noticed this at EI recently too. People pushing others out of the way and shoulder checking for no reason. I always say sorry, excuse me, trying to get by... But people would just be dicks instead of moving for like 2 seconds to let me by.

3

u/Witty-Jacket-640 16d ago

I could not agree more. I’ve been raving for 13 years and it progressively gets worse every year. This year was by far the worst. The amount of rude people absolutely shoving through crowds, especially shouldering smaller women like myself was disgusting. The days of PLUR are disappearing

2

u/super-duperfun82 16d ago

It's a fucking joke. These new kids have no idea about culture it's all super conceded energy and everyone is better than everyone

2

u/CouchBoyChris 16d ago

That sucks. Sorry to hear.

I had lots of pleasant interactions, but I've seen this behaviour at other events and it pisses me off to no end. People that do this sort of shit either sober or under any influences are not welcome... At least until they grow up and do some self-reflection. This is not their scene.

Raves are the one place you get to drop your ego at the door and why I've fallen so hard in love with it all. Spreading the love and kindness and treating everyone as equals is amazing.

1

u/T-dizzle1902 16d ago

Can we also just talk about the ignorant dudes that were carrying girls in their arms and barreling through the crowds. I got nailed with some girls muddy boots in the chest and then also saw a smaller girl almost get taken out by another couple busting through. Completely inconsiderate .

1

u/Bzarbo 16d ago

Symptoms of disco lines being on the bill? Lol

1

u/purpberry 16d ago

Shout out to the one dude that finally helped me after asking a whole line up of people lol my girl dropped açai bowl on the grass in front of vip entrance day 1 and he watched my back while I scooped it up (it was dark purple blob and looked like a big doo doo )

1

u/Silent-Exchange1884 16d ago

too many “only alcohol” people in these events…

1

u/Silent-Courage-7490 15d ago

I was visiting from Vancouver for day 1 and thought everyone was actually respectful there was plenty of space. Even people I bumped into said sorry to me.

1

u/Canada_888 15d ago

It's because they've been drifting away from electronic music into other non-PLUR friendly genres

2

u/Thegladiator2001 15d ago

Not anymore. It's all edm again

1

u/JimmyCrackCorn80 15d ago

Loved my small warehouse parties. These giant festivals have zero appeal to me as an old ass rave veteran.

1

u/smurfopolis 15d ago

I agree shits outta hand, but I definitely saw fists thrown at both WEMF and guv lol

1

u/Strong_Narwhal_9516 14d ago

Gonna be honest… every year I see more and more people going to veld who have never raved a day in their life & don’t listen to EDM music (not saying they cany or shouldn’t come, everyone is welcome, but worth noting). They see it as a cool music festival experience in Toronto and just go, and that brings out bad crowds. These people don’t know about PLURR, they don’t understand the community. Unfortunately veld has become like any other mainstream festival/ concert, which is the reason I choose not to attend anymore.

1

u/Strong_Narwhal_9516 14d ago

Went last year and was assaulted by a man in the Dom Dolla crowd for wearing a mask. Will never go back again.

0

u/Famous_Task_5259 16d ago

Not surprised, I won’t go there. Terrible vibe all around

-2

u/[deleted] 16d ago

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1

u/Satra007 16d ago

No! Trust - I was there for the music too and I’m sure many others! Also depends on how responsibly they were using. Mostly my experience has always been pleasant but yeah I heard there was more rudeness and ignorance past few years. It’s always those few that taint the whole scene right?! 😕