Rolling Loud fans flock to annual festival despite sweltering weather conditions
MIAMI -- Excessive heat stifled crowds headed to opening night of the Rolling Loud Music Festival at Hard Rock Stadium Friday evening.
With no signs of warmer weather, officials with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue warned anyone with outdoor plans to beware and take precautions.
Scorching heat melted ice faster than Germaine Bernard could carry clear bins of cold drinks to customers who were walking along NW 27th Avenue near the stadium.
"They're buying a lot of water," Bernard said. "Water and juice is going like hot bread."
Fire Rescue authorities said they expect the feels-like temperatures to be around 110 degrees until 8 p.m. as they warned music goers to protect themselves from sun exposure and to hydrate.
"Under this warning, conditions can be very dangerous and even cause a deadly heat stroke even with limited exposure," said spokesperson Erika Benitez.
Officials with the Farmer Workers Association of Homestead said they worried about people in the fields who do not get breaks and do not fully understand the risks involved.
"Workers there don't even want to drink water because they don't want to go use the restroom to take breaks because that's production time," Yvette Cruz of the association said.
Rolling Loud promoters expect 80,000 people to attend the weekend festival that began Friday and continues through Sunday. Customers told us festival staff gave away free water bottles in similar conditions in the past.
So despite stifling traffic that caused some to wander around 45 minutes looking for parking and wait outside for entrance to the stadium, people attending the concerts hardly felt any excitement melt.
"It's alright because we're here for Rolling Loud," said Ryan Dougherty, a music fan from Georgia. "We're decked out with the squad. We got the mob. We're going crazy. It's going to be a great year. We're going to drink a lot of water. Stay hydrated out there folks. That's the key to success, baby."