A new festival in Huntsville left many people jarred by the lack of options inside a large amphitheater.

The Orion Amphitheater hosted its first Rocket City Pickle Fest on Sunday, but many attendees left disappointed.

The Orion touted pickle-inspired eats, all things pickled and pickle merchandise on its online description of the 6-hour event. More than 1,000 people bought $25 ticket to celebrate the food, with taxes and fees pushing the price close to $30 a person.

Coworkers Angelique Hangartner and Rachel Kinley were excited to see the Orion dill-iver, but they say it just seemed like a regular market that happens around Huntsville, which are usually free.

“I saw some very generic vendor booths,” Hargartner said. “The art booths it was nothing different from whatever they do on the square or general artist markets. And even then, it was just a handful of them.”

They say there were two vendors who were selling pickled food, but they were mostly sold out by the time that Hargartner arrived. There were about 12 art vendors, and only some of them had pickle-related items.

“I was actually expecting something more along the lines of samples, thinking that maybe the $30 entry fee was going to be for samples at vendor tents,” Kinley said. “And I guess there was none of that. I’m not saying I needed free stuff necessarily, but that $30 entry fee was quite a bit for just to be able to walk around and listen to some good music.”

Hargartner has gone to a strawberry festival, peach festival and tomato festival and was expecting to see something along those lines. She said that she and her coworkers weren’t the ones who found themselves in a pickle. They work non-traditional hours at a restaurant, so it was really important that they found a time to spend together.

“We were planning to make that a work group thing for us to all do together, since we don’t get to all be off at the same time and do something,” Hargartner said. “We were really excited to actually have a day that we could get together and do that, and we’re kind of let down by it. It’s very rare that we get to coordinate like that.”

Social media responds

People in many local Huntsville groups on social media agreed with them, including users on the city’s subreddit page. Several posts with hundreds of likes show disappointment with the event.

One user was upset by the “palpable lack of effort.” They wrote that “had you had local farmers as vendors, appropriate gimmicky food options, more cocktail options, cheaper tickets, and maybe a DJ dressed as a pickle, this would have passed with a solid C rating, maybe even C+ rating.”

‘We hear your concerns’

Orion Amphitheater General Manager Alex Craig has heard your experiences. He released the following statement on the event:

“We put Rocket City Pickle Fest together with the hope of celebrating all things pickled in a fun, creative way. We understand that the event did not live up to some guests’ expectations, and we hear your concerns. We’re taking the feedback seriously and already talking through how we can bring back a better Pickle Fest in years to come. That said, we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who came out in the heat and rain and stuck around to support the 10 local artists and bands who took the stage throughout the day. The feedback we’ve received is helping us think through how we approach future events, and we’re committed to learning from it.”

While many were pondering the pickle presence, they did relish in the great music by local bands.