We The Fest, as we all know, is one of the most awaited music festivals in Indonesia, or it used to be. The first We The Fest back in 2014 was a huge success and have been a huge success up until 2019. 

The 2020 version, which was initially scheduled to be held live at Jakarta International Expo, was forced to be held virtually due to the pandemic. 

But alas, We The Fest is coming back this year in just a few weeks and people all across the country, as well as those from outside of Indonesia, were hopeful that the long-awaited and beloved festival will bring about international artists that have yet to grace their presence in We The Fest.

However, this year’s upcoming event has been met by numerous backlash and complaints. And here are the reasons why:

1. Failure to announce performers accordingly through 3 phases as per usual

This year’s We The Fest have failed to announce the list performers sequentially the way they did before. People awaited at least three official phases of announcing the acts yet after phase 1, We The Fest just randomly announce artists and kept people on the tip of their toes, wondering if the line up would be as expected. People missed the usual clues given to the crowd-goers who are eager to guess which of their beloved artist would finally come and perform.

Long gone are those interesting video announcements/trailers to introduce incoming acts.

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2. Taking too long to announce the acts

Ticket sales were announced on June 9th 2022 to be conducted from June 10th onwards. Phase 1 of line ups were announced a month later, on July 15th. And the full line-up were announced just weeks shy from the event. People were left wondering for way too long. 

In 2019, phase 3 of the line-ups were announced way before the event's dates.

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3. Insufficient amount of performers, notably the international artists

We The Fest 2022 have managed to bring LESS artists as compared to previous years (comparison were made to years where the event was held for 3 days)

Here are the estimated number of performers for each year:

2017

24 international artists

31 local artists

2018

23 international artists

42 local artists

2019

23 international artists

42 local artists

In 2022, we are only going to see:

14 international artists

32 local artists

(As per September 5th)

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4. Underwhelming and disappointing line up
This year’s line up only consists of 46 acts, much less than the previous years (2019 had around 61 artists, 2018 had around 65, 2017 had around 52 artists). People are further infuriated by the fact that the amount of artists that have not been showcased on the We The Fest stage aren’t much. Here are the details:

• Swae Lee (performed in We The Fest 2019 as part of Rae Sremmurd)
• CL (performed in We The Fest 2016)
• Offset were originally supposed to grace the stage in 2020 as part of Migos, but only Offset is set to perform this month.
• What So Not appeared in We The Fest 2019
• Oh Wonder have appeared in the Virtual Home Version of We The Fest 2020
• Numerous local acts have also been showcased in previous years

The event organiser have asked crowd goers to name their wishlist but the line up didn’t even come close to the names suggested by the fans.

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5. The event felt rushed. 

The event felt rushed and announced not long before the actual festival date, with ticket sales starting only less than 4 months  before the event is set to begin and list of acts being shared < 3 months before the event.

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6. Ticket price similar/more expensive compared to previous years but with less acts.

Broken down are the list of prices from 2017 to 2022 (3-day events) including tax:

2017:

Early entry = 960k + 25% tax = Rp 1,200k

GA Presale 1 = 960k + 25% tax = Rp 1,200k

VIB Presale 1 = 2,400k + 25% tax = Rp 3,300k

2018:

Early entry = 960k + 25% tax = Rp 1,200k

GA Presale 1 = 1,040k + 25% tax = Rp 1,300k

VIB Presale 1 = 2,640k + 25% tax = Rp 3,300k

Daily Pass = 600k + 25% tax = Rp 750k

2019:

Early entry = 1,000k + 25% tax = Rp 1,250k

GA Presale 1 = 1,120k + 25% tax = Rp 1,400k

VIB Presale 1 = 2,800k + 25% tax = Rp 3,500k

Daily Pass GA = 680k + 25% tax = Rp 850k

2022:

Early entry = 1,250k

GA Pre-sale 1 = 1,400k

VIB Pre-sale 1 = 3,500k

Daily Pass GA = Rp 850k

(2022 price includes tax)

As we can see here, the pricing for the 2019 event and this year's event are the same. But sadly, this year we get to see less performances.

There may be other reasons that have yet to be told as to why people feel let down.

With that being said, we would like the event committee to reassess the event. PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE.

We are asking that the event be POSTPONED or CANCELED until there are enough artists to perform so that the crowd can get their money’s worth. 

Other alternatives or options that people have also mentioned include:

• Ticket refunds
• Adding more international performers / headliners
• Decreasing the price of the tickets
• Possibility of exchanging We The Fest tickets to Djakarta Warehouse Project 2022 tickets (Please!!)
• Possibility of exchanging this year's We The Fest tickets for next year's We The Fest tickets
• Possibility to exchange the tickets for dining vouchers/points at ISMAYA Restaurants valued at the same price as the original tickets.
• Any other alternative compensations

We love this event so much that it breaks our hearts knowing that this isn’t the We The Fest we have known and loved going to for YEARS. We know times have been tough, with the recent information from ISMAYA founder that:

• There are many last minute cancellations (with other international artists drama)
• Replacing and overpaying artists at the last minute

The line up of artists in this year's We The Fest aren't bad. They are great! Unfortunately, insufficient in numbers. People are so disappointed that they are better off selling tickets way below the price, losing hundred thousands - millions of rupiah, rather than having to go to the event itself. These tickets aren't cheap and people have worked hard and saved a lot of money to obtain these tickets. We trusted this event but were let down. 

Please make an adjustment as soon as possible! People are expecting for an amazing comeback but are currently left with disappointments. As loyal fans of this particular event, we would like to ask for a change to compensate for what's lacking. Sign this petition if you agree!