Astroworld music festival venue has a capacity of 200,000, not 20,000

Last week’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, where eight people died in a crush of fans, took place at a venue that was an appropriate size for the event, despite social media claims to the contrary.

A viral Facebook post said event organizer Live Nation scheduled the 50,000-person Astroworld festival at a venue with a capacity of 20,000. The post also claimed that Live Nation was responsible for other supposed shortcomings at the event, including a lack of water stations and medical personnel.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The venue for the event, NRG Park, has a capacity of 200,000, based on fire codes. Despite the larger capacity, city officials limited attendance at the festival to 50,000, the city’s fire chief told the Associated Press.

Anecdotal reports have emerged about a lack of water stations and medical personnel, but they have not been substantiated by Houston officials.

NRG Park is a 350-acre complex with four facilities, including NRG Stadium that’s home to the Houston Texans NFL team. The park hosts concerts, exhibitions, sporting events and conventions, and its outdoor spaces are used for festivals, runs and sporting events. The Astroworld festival was held outdoors.

Medical care for the festival was provided by a third-party contractor that was in charge of bringing in doctors, emergency medical technicians and others, Houston’s fire chief told local TV station KXAN. The fire chief said he could not determine yet whether the third-party vendor had sufficient resources on site.

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The multi-day Astroworld festival was created by rapper and festival headliner Travis Scott in 2018, following the release of his third album, also named Astroworld. The crowd surge occurred Nov. 5 during Scott’s performance.

Scott has been arrested twice and charged with inciting riots at his concerts. He pleaded guilty to minor charges including reckless conduct and disorderly conduct, the New York Times reported.

Live Nation, which reported $2.7 billion in revenue for its third quarter, is the world's largest live-event company.

A viral Facebook post said event organizer Live Nation scheduled the 50,000-person Astroworld festival at a venue that has a capacity of 20,000.

The venue has a capacity of 200,000, based on fire codes, and attendance was capped at 50,000. 

The claim also said that the event lacked sufficient water stations and medical personnel, but those reports are anecdotal and have not been substantiated by city officials.

We rate this claim False.