Garth Brooks fans unable to get into the concert at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena because of traffic, crowd

Garth Brooks fans unable to get into the concert at Thunder Valley Nature Arena because of traffic, crowd
Published: Oct. 1, 2022 at 9:58 PM CDT

RIDGEDALE, Mo. (KY3) - Garth Brooks is appearing at the new Bass Pro Thunder Ridge Nature Arena Branson for the weekend of September 30 through October 2.

The sold-out show was a hit for many who attended on September 30. However, many others were unable to even get into the venue due to miles of traffic and few shuttles from parking lots to the concert. Maricalla Cossich and her husband decided to spend their fifth anniversary seeing Garth Brooks. They spent $400 on tickets for themselves and friends and a parking pass. They left their home in Bolivar at 3 p.m. When they arrived at the venue, they waited in line to get to their assigned parking spot for over an hour. Once they parked, they saw hundreds of people in line for the shuttle.

“You get there, and you see this miles and miles long line of people just standing there waiting, waiting, waiting, hoping they’re gonna get to the show people gave up,” Cossich said. “That’s why they started walking in, because they started realizing there’s only six shuttles in rotation.”

She and her husband eventually decided to ditch the show and have fun out in Branson. But not everyone had this same experience.

“Yeah, it was great. It’s the second time we’ve seen Garth, and we were so happy who’s in basically our backyard,” said Stacie Richmond, another concertgoer. “We actually got there right around one o’clock to do the tailgating and the fan zone experience.”

She said because she and her husband got there six hours early, it was a breeze getting in and slightly inconvenient getting out.

However, Cossich and her husband had a plan too. Unfortunately, they couldn’t spare the time to get there six hours before the concert.

“We’re really upset where we didn’t get the experience,” Cossich said. “We didn’t get to see Garth. I’ve never seen Garth in person. It was ridiculous.”

KY3 reached out to Garth Brooks’ team as well as Bass Pro, but neither were able to get back for comment.

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