The Great GoogaMooga — a massive music festival that will soon hit Prospect Park — is off to a not-so-great start.
Presumed jam band fans waited in a virtual line on Thursday to score access to the two-day concert planned by the creators of Bonnaroo, but technical glitches kept them waiting for hours — and left many empty-handed.
Music lovers visited the event’s website at noon, right when early registration for the free festival began. They filled out digital paperwork and waited — but two hours later, many realized their connections had suddenly timed out after they received a message telling them the tickets were no longer available.
“It was disappointing,” said Crown Heights resident Steven Hoffer, a classic rock and bluegrass fan who wasted two hours of his life. “A lot of people were bummed out.”
It turned out Event Brite, the online ticketing service that teamed up with concert planners, suffered serious technical problems due to high demand, festival spokeswoman Marisa Wayne said.
The food, drink, and tunes fest is expected to bring 40,000 people to the park’s Neathermead field May 19-20, and even though the event is gratis, wannabe concert-goers must register beforehand due to capacity restrictions.
And many did — or tried to — even though they don’t know which bands, or what type of music, the festival will feature.
That could be because Superfly Productions, the concert’s creators, have worked with the likes of Radiohead, Santigold, Feist, and The Roots. Plus, the company has earned plenty of buzz for the fancy foods it will sell in lieu of standard concert chow.
After failing to get a ticket despite his wait on an online line, Hoffer emailed concert promoters on Saturday and got a free ticket to the gig. It’s unclear if all of the snubbed music fans got tickets as well.
Organizers say music and grub lovers will have more chances register for Brooklyn’s mini-Woodstock in coming months, but Wayne did not respond to questions about how many slots remain available.
Event planners are now working to hammer out the early registrations problems caused by Thursday’s computer faux-pas, according to Wayne.
“We sincerely apologize to all those who had a frustrating ticketing process and for any inconvenience,” she said.
Reach reporter Natalie O'Neill at noneill@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-4505.
