So Many People Got the Sh*ts at Download That There’s Now an Investigation
Take a moment and think of all the things you’d expect to experience at a major music festival like Download. If you’re a normal person, you probably expect things like good music, expensive food, maybe you get a little sunburnt, but most importantly you’d expect to have a good time. What you shouldn’t expect — and what apparently some people experienced at this year’s Download — is horrific diarrhea and food poisoning.
According to the BBC, organizers are trying to determine why fans got sick after eating some of the food available on site at last weekend’s Download Festival. Apparently, two food stalls were shut down during the event because people started getting sick. And while a spokesperson from the North West Leicestershire District Council said officials were only aware of six people that got sick, social media accounts suggest that the problem was more wide spread.
One attendee named Will Ellis said he woke up one day after eating some of the food on offer at the festival “with the most painful stomach ache.” It was so bad, in fact, that he apparently spent most of the day shitting his brains out instead of enjoying the live concert experience.
According to Paul Sanders, head of community services for the North West Leicestershire District Council, an investigation identified the two problem vendors.
“We worked with the event organizer to investigate two food vendors, both of which were closed by the event organizer over the course of the weekend. We are aware of reports of people feeling unwell and will continue to investigate. Anyone continuing to feel unwell following the Download Festival should contact their GP in the first instance.”
Apparently, things were so bad that FoodPoisoningNews (yes, that’s a real site) report that “as many as 500 people” may have gotten sick in an event they’re calling a “real food poisoning epidemic.”
Live Nation has since responded to the situation, stating that they’d inspected all food vendors at the event, but they
“Two vendors were closed and removed from the site as they failed to meet the standards of Environment Health and the local authority. Download Festival operates a robust 24-hour welfare operation including staff and welfare tents to support unwell customers throughout the site.”
Though an official explanation hasn’t been given just yet, first hand reports suggest that if you ate any of the Yorkshire pudding wraps or the beef brisket, chances are you were going to be inverting your bowels in a few hours. But you’d already know that by now…
