A MASSIVE country music festival called "Redneck Rave" descended into mayhem as one man's throat was slit, a woman was choked in a fight over a blanket and another man was impaled by a log.
Forty-eight people were charged, 14 arrested and numerous others were injured during the barmy five-day event that was attended by thousands in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
Organizers of the event, which was held in Blue Holler Offroad Park, promised the roughly 20,000 attendees a long weekend of "mud, music and mayhem" – and police say that's precisely what they got.
Edmonson County Sheriff Shane Doyle told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the event got off to a rocky start even before the first act had taken to the stage.
In the first car officers stopped at a traffic checkpoint, deputies found meth, marijuana, and an open container of alcohol. One of the people in the car also had two active warrants out for their arrest.
"We were like, ‘Well, this doesn’t bode well for the weekend," Doyle said.
The disorder only seemed to snowball from there.
In one of the more bizarre incidents from the five-day bash, one attendee had his throat slit by a supposed friend during a fight.
“They were intoxicated, they got into a fight, one of them slit the other one’s throat and then fled into the park,” Doyle said.
The suspect remains at large.
In another altercation, Missouri resident Lancer Hodges, 29, was accused of strangling a woman in an argument over a blanket, court records say.
The victim told police Hodges choked her until "she was losing consciousness" and couldn't breathe.
Hodges denied choking the woman, but police noted that he woman had scratches and red marks on her neck, in addition to fingerprints behind her ears.
He was charged with strangulation, wanton endangerment, and fourth-degree domestic violence assault, according to court records.
A multitude of other revellers suffered accidental injuries too, Doyle told the Ledger.
One attendee drove a vehicle over a two- to three-inch-thick “log” that went through the bottom of his vehicle and impaled him in the abdomen.
“When it tried to come out through his back it was stopped by a steel plate in his seat,” Doyle said.
The man was transported to the hospital with the branch still lodged inside of him.
Another man lost part of his finger when his own vehicle, which was being lifted up a jack, fell and landed on his hand.
Others suffered lacerations, dislocated fingers, various broken bones, and other injuries.
Such was the chaos, Doyle said a sheriff's deputy accompanied emergency responders into the event whenever they received a call.
"There were so many intoxicated people, we just decided, ‘If dispatch sends an ambulance in, we’re sending a deputy in with them,’” Doyle said.
Nobody died during this year's festivities, though at least one person was killed during one of the two events in 2020.
Mammoth Cave is a tiny town roughly 60 miles from Louisville. Doyle said the 20,000-strong event overwhelmed local emergency services and has angered local residents.
"The people that live here, they don’t want this business here,” Doyle said.
“What we want are responsible businesses that add to the value of our communities. That business [Blue Holler Offroad Park' has the capability of being that. To date, it hasn’t always added value to the community. At times, it adds stress to the community.”
Doyle added that he ordered all of his deputies to work mandatory overtime and requested assistance from the Kentucky State Police to help control the unruly crowd.
In total, 48 people were charged by police and 14 were arrested.
Six of the charges were felony accounts, including assault, and 30 were related to drug and alcohol offenses. Sixty-three traffic citations were also issued.
Offenders came from Kentucky and several other states, including Michigan, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee, according to court records.
Despite the days of disorder, festival organizer Justin Stowers – otherwise known by his stage name Justin Time – celebrated the event as "the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life."
"We can definitely improve on a lot of things to make the one in October run a lot better,” Stowers said in a Facebook post.
“We are listening to all your suggestions. This was the biggest event we’ve ever done and with as many people and random things that popped up unexpectedly I feel like we all handled it very well.”
As well as live music, the event offered revelers a demolition derby, goldfish racing, and a large-scale football game.
Another Redneck Rave is scheduled to take place in Mammoth Cave in October.
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