Who said that a book festival was necessarily a peaceful event, not to mention a bit boring? The Readers Take Denver event, which was held in Colorado from April 18 to 21, has just proven the opposite. It took place in total chaos, to the point of now being compared to the Fyre Festival, the famous music festival organized in 2017 in the Bahamas and whose catastrophic organization was the subject of a tasty Netflix documentary.
The Readers Take Denver event was billed as a four-day readers’ paradise, filled with popular authors and signed copies of books. In short, a group of bookworms not to be missed for readers in the region.
Instead, the conference was marred by long lines, a lack of security and the disappearance of pre-ordered books, according to multiple social media posts from attendees. “All we did was wait in line. It was complete rubbish,” he told the Denver Post. Kelly Meyer, calling the event a “Fyre book festival.” Another participant explained, “It was worse than Disney, and there wasn’t even a ride at the end. »
Assaults
Attendees paid between $300 and $375 to attend the conference, which featured meet-and-greets, book signings and even film screenings, thinking they wouldn’t have to wait in line, the Denver Post reported. A timed ticket system using messaging service WhatsApp was meant to avoid waits to see favorite authors, meaning guests could visit as many stands as they wanted.
Renee Jones admitted there had been myriad issues with the venue, causing long lines for registrations, but she claimed there had been no other serious issues .
A bibliophile, however, ended up with a black eye following an altercation, obviously with a member of the organization, when she found herself mixed up in the poorly orchestrated convergence of crowds. Another attendee also reported on TikTok that she was also verbally abused by staff members while suffering a medical emergency at the conference. “I had a hypoglycemic attack and the staff yelled at me to get off the floor,” she said. There have been so many horrible experiences between readers, sellers, authors, PAs and volunteers. This is not just a communication problem, but a systemic problem within this program. »
“Diva syndrome”
The April 18-21 event was the second edition of the conference created by the organizer Lisa Renee Jones, an author who has written more than 100 books, according to the Denver Post. She managed to organize a smaller version of the meeting in 2023, and may have thought too big for the next edition. The disaster was reportedly such that Readers Take Denver has already canceled its planned event for 2025. Dozens of authors have withdrawn due to safety concerns raised by the outcry generated by social media.
