What happened at the tragic Astroworld Festival?

Local and national headlines are covering the tragic events at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on Friday, November 5.

Eight people, including a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, died and dozens were hospitalized.

According to reporting by the Houston Chronicle, “Stunning accounts of people gasping for air and being trampled in a raucous crowd of 50,000 surfaced Saturday as Houston’s first major music festival since the pandemic turned into one of the deadliest concerts in U.S. history.”

Much is unknown at this time, and the Houston Police Department’s homicide and narcotics divisions are conducting a criminal investigation. City officials and concert organizers encourage anyone, who attended the concert and has any information about the crowd surge, to contact police.

To help you understand and follow what has happened in the past 48 hours, I’ve rounded up the following articles:

Overall understanding of the tragedy (via Houston Public Media): 8 dead, more than a dozen injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival

Closer look at the timeline of events (via Houston Chronicle): For 37 minutes after officials declared a ‘mass casualty’ at Astroworld, Travis Scott played on

Reaction from Travis Scott (via Houston Chronicle): In emotional Instagram video, Travis Scott says he could ‘never imagine anything like this happening’

Explanation of strategies for crowd control during large festivals (via Variety): How Travis Scott’s $5 Million Solo Stage, Set Time May Have Contributed to Astroworld Festival Deaths

Personal account and reflections from Joey Guerra, Music Critic (via Houston Chronicle): How the Astroworld tragedy changed one writer’s view of the live-music experience

Perspective of concertgoers (via Houston Chronicle): ‘It could have been me’: How the tragedy at Astroworld Festival unfolded

Historical context, citing concerts going back to 1969 (via NPR): Astroworld Festival joins a list of historical concert tragedies