The Hudson Project 2014 – A letter to the fans
First thing to address with this festival, it has been dubbed the “Mudson Project”.
No one was prepared for it. Obviously, the organizers weren’t prepared for it either. It was probably the closest thing to a flash flood I have ever seen. But more of a flash MUD PIT. If you didn’t get your car out in the first hour of the scramble on Sunday, you had to get a few kind souls or even a tractor to push and pull you out. This mess lasted for days. After the festival, people were in uproar about the outcome….here’s how MCP Presents and The Hudson Project responded:
Here at Winston Farm the load-out process continues and so does the rain. Progress has been slow, as the mud has complicated every step we take. In the past several days, morale has been low, and not just for the fans, but also for all of us who worked so hard to create the inaugural Hudson Project. After more than a full year of pouring our hearts and souls into creating an event that was built around the core of a positive fan experience, we know we fell short in some aspects.
We are reading all your comments and complaints and will be addressing them internally, as well as taking all of them into consideration as we plan next year’s event. We know some staff acted inappropriately, especially in the heat of the moment during the storm; for us, this conduct is unacceptable, will not be tolerated and will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Beyond these incidents, issues concerning entrance and exiting of the festival site, venue and campgrounds will be addressed, and the overall plan will be modified based on our experience from this past weekend. This was the first event at this location in 20 years and there were a lot of factors that were out of our control. This combination did not allow us to provide the fan experience we strive for. Overall the operations of the event were not up to our high standards and for this we are extremely sorry.
The weather was a terrible way to end what was a beautiful weekend. Mother Nature is the one factor that no one can control, but some actions you can control–mainly the choice to cancel and evacuate the event. With recommendation from Ulster County Emergency Services & Health Department we came to the conclusion the show must be cancelled. We stand by our decision because your safety is always our first concern. We feel we accomplished this goal as all patrons were able to exit the site safely, albeit slowly.
We are issuing a refund on all face value ticket prices for Sunday’s performances. Details on the refund process will be made available ASAP. For now, know that we are happy to offer this as a small consolation to those who weren’t able to see some of their favorite acts and also those who struggled to leave the site.
An incredible amount of time, energy, dedication and love goes into planning an event of this caliber. We hope you understand that we have poured everything we have into The Hudson Project and we don’t plan on giving up. In the coming months, we will work to alleviate some of the issues we all faced, so that we may build upon the foundation created this weekend. From the beginning, we wanted to create and evolve an event with input from you–the ones who took a chance and came out to be a part of this special first weekend. Our ultimate goal is an ever-evolving festival designed as a three-day utopian retreat from the ‘real world’ centered on a cutting edge lineup, world-class food and art. This goal has not changed, and will not change.
With this in mind, we are creating a survey that will give everyone a proper forum to voice their comments and have them addressed by the right people. We will take these survey responses to heart and will utilize them in preparation for upcoming events. Please take this opportunity to express your thoughts and suggestions, as we truly want your input so that we may create a better experience for all next time.
To those who joined us for our inaugural year, thank you and congratulations on surviving the MudsonProject . We have a feeling you will never forget it…we know we won’t. We feel that despite the challenges everyone faced, we all were a part of something special. We hope you feel the same.
Until next time,
The Hudson Project
It’s not clear what will come of The Hudson Project in the future. A lot went wrong with the festival before the weather was a problem. There were issues with the staff, security, and layout. The silver lining of the festival was the music that we did get to experience. Atmosphere, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, STS9, Excision, Keys N Krates, Gold Panda, Griz, Big Gigantic, Flying Lotus, Savoy, Moby, and Kendrick Lamar were all fantastic! Although it was truly heartbreaking to see Tipper, Bassnectar, Infected Mushroom, Kygo, Oliver and others cancelled on the last day. A lot of unhappy fans left Saugerties, NY. So many feels:
