What was billed as the ultimate nostalgic trip down memory lane quickly deteriorated into a weekend nightmare.

The reality on the ground was a stark contrast to the high-energy hype. According to reports from Cornwall Live, the festival failed to draw anywhere near the thousands of attendees it had anticipated, leaving the expansive showground feeling ghost-like and underwhelming. The dismal turnout didn't just ruin the atmosphere for music fans; it dealt a devastating blow to the local independent businesses relying on the crowd.

Behind the scenes, the financial fallout for on-site traders has been severe. One devastated vendor revealed to Cornwall Live that their team had invested significant time, stock, and staff hours into the event, only to leave a staggering £7,000 out of pocket. To make matters worse, despite alleged initial promises of compensation from the festival organisers, vendors claim those assurances have completely fallen through, leaving small businesses to absorb the catastrophic losses alone.

The frustration wasn't confined to the empty dance floors and out-of-pocket vendors. Attendees quickly took to social media to air their grievances, painting a picture of an event that was severely underprepared and structurally chaotic. One festivalgoer on Facebook slammed the event as a "complete and utter joke," alleging shocking hygiene standards at the beverage stations. According to their post, bar staff were seen putting their bare hands directly into the ice bucket being used to chill and serve customers' drinks.

The same attendee criticised the entire setup as a cheap scam, writing: "No bar, just a couple of empty fridges and some boxes of beers that looked like they’d just nipped to Tesco!" The beverage crisis apparently escalated rapidly as the day went on. According to reports, attendees described the event as an "absolute shambles" and a "s*** show," claiming that the bars completely ran out of alcohol by 5:30 PM - hours before the headline acts were even set to finish.

The chaos extended behind the scenes to the talent booked to keep the party going. One events company revealed to Cornwall Live that the 10 DJs and two dancers they supplied for the lineup have been left entirely unpaid. A representative from the company expressed complete disbelief at the organisers' total silence following the debacle. "No one from the event has been in touch," they claimed. "They just don’t care."

The situation behind the scenes sounds even more bizarre than what was happening on the dance floor. According to the owner of one promotion brand, the festival organisers seemed to pull a complete vanishing act. “They have not paid anybody, or responded to anyone's messages or calls. They have just vanished without a trace,” one promoter alleged. The logistical nightmare reportedly began the moment the crew arrived in Cornwall; the Premier Inn where they were supposedly booked to stay had absolutely no record of their reservation.

When the artists finally made it to the venue, the promised "outdoor arenas" turned out to be a massive downgrade. A promoter claimed that the stage her performers were booked to play on was nothing more than a basic garden gazebo with a plastic table shoved underneath it. Left with no other choice, the booked DJs and dancers simply had to "laugh their way through" the sheer absurdity of their performances.

The organisers behind Save The Rave broke their silence on Sunday with an official statement shared on social media. A spokesperson blamed the venue, claiming the event was plagued by "serious safety concerns early on" due to "insufficient barriers."

"We were assured nobody could get into the area of the show ground we were in," the statement read. "This is not the case as there were several vehicles and members of the public passing through the arena as much of it was exposed which meant we could not run safely anyway."

Whether this explanation will satisfy the out-of-pocket vendors and furious ticket holders, however, remains to be seen.