FRB Fearfest is a new, Halloween themed, cannabis event. On the 21st of October 2022, the gates to the secret location were opened and saw roughly between 300-400 ticketholders pass through.
Leading up to this event, there were a few sceptical views from within the community on how this event would turn out. This is the first festival that these guys have ran, so we were curious to see how well this event would turn out.
So, let's discuss; what was FRB Fearfest really like?
Please remember that these are just my own opinions and experiences. This is not a paid review, but I was gifted 2 tickets to the event. I did not experience any of the behind-the-scenes. This is simply my views of the event as a standard ticket holder.
What was my experience like at FRB Fearfest?
Before the day of FRB there was torrential rain, which is expected for this time of year. The ground was quickly turned into muddy sludge that clung to your shoes and it got so deep cars ended up having to be towed out! A big shout out to anyone (including the organisers) who helped with pushing others out; this was a true display the of the canna community spirit.
Overall, the general consensus I gathered from ticket holders and vendors was that they seemed to fairly happy, however by 7pm the majority of people had left, leaving the field looking pretty sparse; A lack of seating, lighting at night, the roadman vibe and a muddy field with no additional safety measures seemed to make this event less than ideal.
Locating the event with the postcode provided on the day was easy and stress free, but this was down to the small crowd that had formed around the entrance to the event on the side of the road (Which could have potentially become a risk if the location was leaked)
On the gate were two crew members with a roll of clingfilm who, I thought, were kindly offering to wrap people's shoes due to the state of the field ruining people's shoes: until they then hit you with the fee of £2.50 per shoe (£5 total?). We all know how much cling film costs, so this suggested to me that this was a scam by the organisers to earn a bit of extra cash.
As you enter the event your met by an overwhelming sea of roadmen. This doesn't tend to be the typical vibe or atmosphere that are at these events and made me and I know others feel slightly uncomfortable. I'm sure you can picture multiple groups of lads with hoods up and ballies on... This is not the right kind of image to be giving to the cannabis community.
Lack of security made it really difficult to feel relaxed and safe here; This is probably one of the main reasons why I wasn't a fan of this event.
The biggest issue, which I know many other ticketholders also found odd was that the festival had no seating area - You'd couldn't just sit down, unless you wanted a really muddy bum! I'm not sure whether this was just something that was overlooked by the organisers or maybe was due to lack of space? But for anyone, especially medical members of the cannabis community, standing for that many hours aren't fun.
Once night fell, it quickly became apparent there was zero lighting around the site. Mixed with the treacherous ground underneath this made it difficult to see and walk around.
Another issue I spotted was the amount of littering that was outside of the event. Attendees of the event had clearly strewn litter (muddy clingfilm wraps!) around the public areas surrounding the event which gives a terrible name to the already stigmatised cannabis community. This is not the typical attitude at these events, and it was upsetting to see that this was the mindset so many of the attendees that had.
In spite of these issues - and there were definitely issues - I did find some redeeming qualities.
In terms of facilities, I did notice a few portaloos provided in two separate locations, however I didn't use them so I can't give my opinion on the state of them.
The turnout of vendors was impressive, I'd say roughly there was somewhere around 30 vendors all with high quality products. We also saw plenty of catering/food stalls which is super important as you get extra hungry at these kinds of events!
To give you a slight idea of the kind of products available to purchase you could find infused drinks and food, vapes, extracts and of course your top shelf flower. Hidden right at the end of the strip I found the only hash vendor!
Check out some of the stalls below 👇
All of the vendors were welcoming, and it was great meeting and connecting with some new faces. I even saw some familiar faces from the community including @Edsmeds who it's always a pleasure to bump into!
There were a few vendors who really stood out and made this event special for me, these were: @smokeandbubbles, @smoking witchcraft and @credibleedibles!
@Credibleedibles are famous in the community for their funny fudge and have been at pretty much every single event that has been on this year!
I picked up a pack of their salted caramel funny fudge to finally try and I can now see what all the hype is about!
If you find these guys at an event you attend, I highly recommend purchasing from them - They're also on Instagram!
When I came over to @smoking witchcraft we got to talking straight away and they then gifted me with a care package which included the cutest earrings from @______, a crystal, a few edibles and a handful of Halloween themed sweets and decor. I was so overwhelmed by their kindness, I completely forgot to take photos of their stall and the goodies, thank you so much my lovely!
@Smokeandbubbles positive attitude and real sense of the canna community spirit was beautiful to see.
In their words, they love what they do and do what they love, and they love that they have the opportunity to vend what they love! Your energy was contagious, I hope to catch you at another event!
Rock Paper Scissors Winner 🏆
The real highlight of the event had to be winning the rock paper scissors competition with @Faded24/7. I'd love to say it was me that won but all credit is due to my friend!
In the run up to the event Faded24/7 had advertised via the official Instagram page for the event, that they would be running a RPS competition, and we knew we had to enter; my friends are the rock paper scissors champions (If you follow me on Instagram, you will know about the RPS compilation from the last festival I went too).
The Music line-up
K Koke was the headlining act for FRB Fearfest and performed a 30-minute set. Although not my kind of music he showed up with good energy and vibes even though the crowd wasn't as big as it could have potentially been.
A big issue was there was no mention of what time acts would be performing at, so nobody knew when any of the acts would be performing. It also became apparant that a few of the artists that were promised didn't show up and a few performers left before even performing their set!
It seemed to be mainly DNB, which I personally don't mind but for the majority of others, I know they don't. Drill and DNB are a very niche music scene. Feedback I've heard from people who have attended the event, and previous events is that they would prefer mainly Jungle and Reggae.
Accommodation
For an additional £10 there was the option to camp at the event. Thankfully I didn't decide to camp. I don't mind a bit of mud, but that field was a swimming pool of mud!
As the location of the event is kept secret until the day to keep things safe, organisers of the event kindly provided a list of local hotels. The one, we booked was conveniently only a 7-minute drive away from the event and cost us £99 last minute (I only booked it whilst we were at the festival!). Super grateful for the organiser for helping us out with that!
Summary
I don't think I will be attending FRB again. There are a few things that did go wrong, but this is to be expected when running event, especially an unofficial one. The main thing that has put me off attending this specific event again is that I didn't feel safe at this event, and I don't think it represented our community with the right image.
All in all, I didn't have an awful time and still felt a hint of the canna community magic within the event; A huge thank you to the organisers for putting this event together.
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