Some participants and the organizers behind the three-day gaming, music and pop culture festival held in Pasay City over the weekend apologized following the reported “chaos” on queues and venue capacity.
CONQuest Festival 2023 was a pop culture convention that celebrated music, gaming, anime and comics in different venues held from June 2 to 4, 2023.
This year was touted as its biggest festival yet, with previous reports saying over 70 local and international guests and talents were expected to attend and celebrate music, gaming, tech, pop culture and everything in between.
Apart from the usual events like the Alliance Games Finals, celebrity show matches, and cosplay events, the convention also had its first “Food Street” and featured a Music Night with different artists.
The festival had a multi-venue setup, with events unfolding at the SMX Convention Center, the entirety of the Seashell Lane for the festival’s “Food Street” and other areas in Mall of Asia, National University’s MOA Campus, and Conrad Manila.
While it was envisioned to be the biggest pop culture convention, the event drew flak from some fans and enthusiasts who took to social media to air their grievances on overcrowding, hours-long queues and alleged mismanagement of some events.
Content creator Atsu or “Asian Guy Stream,” a UK-based Genshin Impact streamer, was among those who offered an apology as one of the talents of the festival.
He initially thanked the Filipino community for “welcoming” them but added some of his insights in a Twitter thread.
“I would also like to (apologize) for the chaos that ensued and [the] disappointment that followed. It’s not fair that so many people missed out on events and it’s even worse that people had to wait in such horrible queuing conditions, it was really and truly sad to see,” Atsu said on Monday, June 5.
“It’s also not fair to the staff to shoulder all the blame or burden, because many of them worked their a**es off behind the scenes to make things work through the chaos. The reason I apologise is because CCs [content creators], especially including myself, are not blameless,” he added.
Atsu said that such conventions are a “full team effort,” adding that there are some “incredibly difficult guests to work with and accommodate for.”
“Some have unreasonable demands [and] some have AWFUL communication skills. And of course, some only care for $ [dollars]. It truly upsets me that the staff [and] management are shouldering all the blame [and] hatred,” the streamer tweeted.
“Undoubtedly there was overpromising [and] overselling, but I hope people can find it in their heart to realise this wasn’t done maliciously, and all these international guests didn’t come cheap,” he added.
“ConQuest is a con where the people behind the scenes want great things for the community, I have seen it first hand. They bit off more than they could chew this year and messed up, they dreamed too big this time, but I know that they will learn [and] improve if given the chance,” Atsu continued.
Justin Banusing, director of CONQuest Festival 2023, also acknowledged the various complaints from con-goers.
“I’m sorry. When I started CQ [CONQuest], I dreamed of creating a space where people could explore their passions without judgment and bridge the online and offline worlds. Instead, I failed you all,” he tweeted on Sunday, June 4.
“Overpromised, undelivered. I know you’ve been looking forward to this event [all year] and it sucked that not everyone who wanted to experience CQ was able to do so. Worse is that I hyped it up a LOT — and hype means nothing when not all [attendees] can enjoy it,” the festival director added.
Banusing also said that he entered the year 2023 “with an inflated ego coming off the high of last year.”
“I thought I could solve the problems I experienced as a con-goer growing up and that my event was better than others. That I was better than other organizers. And I clearly wasn’t. Jokes on me, linecon became my con,” Banusing continued.
“I was in over my head to think I could deliver an experience [of] this magnitude in the second year that CONQuest is in Manila. There is no excuse and I took all your good faith in me and wasted it,” he further said.
Banusing added that “tickets refunds will happen,” saying it was the “very least” he could do to earn back the con-goers’ trust following the incident and complaints.
“For those that decided to not show up today (and yesterday) or have not claimed their wristband, we will automatically send refund instructions to you within the week via HelixPay. Refund details will be available shortly in the official CQ channels,” he said on Sunday.
The festival director also appealed to the public to refrain from harassing or threatening any of their team, including crew members and volunteers.
CONQuest likewise released a statement on Saturday, the second day of the convention.
“We apologize for the unsatisfactory queueing situation today. There are no reasons we can provide when it comes to this other than that we made a mistake and underestimated the fan demand for the event,” it said in a Facebook post.
It also listed modifications concerning event details and guidelines for its third day.
“We fully take accountability for this,” the CONQuest page said.
The statement and apologies came after con-goers and other social media users aired their grievances and other comments about the convention.
These include TV5 news anchor Julius Babao, who shared a picture of a long queue outside the SMX Convention Center on Sunday.
“Sino ba organizer niting #ConQuest sa SMX? Ang laki daw ng [nakolektang] bayad ng entrance dito pero mukhang nag-oversell ng tickets! Tingnan [niyo] ang mga bata, naka-heavy costume pa tapos pinapila ng milya-milya sa ilalim ng init ng araw! Bakit pinapayagan ito ng SM Management???” he tweeted.
Sino ba organizer niting #ConQuest sa SMX ? Ang laki daw ng nakokektang bayad ng entrance dito pero mukhang nag-oversell ng tickets! Tingnan nyo ang mga bata naka heavy costume pa tapos pinapila ng milya milya sa ilalim ng init ng araw! Bakit pinapayagan ito ng SM Management??? pic.twitter.com/Eqrh0KWb6y
— julius babao (@juLiusbabao) June 4, 2023
Another Twitter user claimed that the issue “started when they restocked tickets that [were] supposed to remain sold out.”
“Then came the onsite selling of tickets. #CONQuest2023 should’ve never restocked in the first place. And majority of the events happen at SMX so people will flood that area,” he wrote.
“[CONQuest day two] is so chaotic. Did they actually anticipate the volume of ppl [people]????” another Filipino exclaimed.
Here are some pictures from the second and third days of the event:
A con-goer who wanted to remain anonymous told Interaksyon that they had a “terrible” queueing experience on Saturday.
“From morning hangga’t matapos ang Con [CONQuest], nakapila ako,” they said in an online interview.
“Sobrang sakit ng paa ko, tapos siksikan mga tao sa second floor ng [SMX] na mej [medyo] umuga ‘yung floor,” the con-goer added.
“Actually, nung day one pa lang may issues na kasi DAW ‘yung free meet-and-greet nagka-issue kasi marami pumunta, tapos ‘di nabigyan karamihan ng stub,” they continued.
The con-goer said that they were still “one of the lucky ones” because they were able to enter the site.
Banusing previously said that the CONQuest has “evolved to be more than just a gaming convention.”
Last year’s festival was the first in Manila.
