Roots Picnic Delayed Due To Rain, Questlove Apologizes: ‘Conditions Were Unsafe For Everyone Involved’

As Roots Picnic took place over the weekend, the festival was delayed due to heavy rains leading to long lines at doors. Questlove, the band’s drummer, admitted the rains affected the festival to the point they considered cancelling the event due to unsafe conditions.

Fans went online to complain about the long waits, flooding the festival’s social media pages to express they waited hours in line to get inside on the first day of the event. The line ultimately did not move until after 3:30 p.m. The festival responded to fan comments by writing on Sunday, “We would like to say sorry. As we shared yesterday, the rain over the last 48 hours made the grounds unsafe. In an abundance of caution, we had to delay doors opening, resulting in the lines to get into the festival. Please understand safety will always be our number 1 priority.”

According to Philly Mag, fans were informed earlier in the day that the postponement would last until 2 p.m. Another update was not provided until sometime between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Set times were pushed back in an attempt to accomodate the delays.

All artists scheduled to perform on Saturday were able to take the stage without violating city curfews. Day two continued on with no rain in the forecast and fewer hitches.

“I know today wasn’t ‘ideal’ for The Roots Picnic in this 18th year of 2025 (this year has particularly been challenging to say the least),” Questlove wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Transforming the Mann Center into our event takes about two weeks, but as many of you experienced, heavy rain from May 30th into the morning of the 31st caused significant damage (midnight to 7am). We nearly canceled The Picnic because conditions were unsafe for everyone involved. Ultimately, we chose to take extra time to repair the site to ensure safety for all ticket holders, which is why there was a three hour delay. (Yes I got numerous messages from attendees, family, and everyone in the tristate) but we prioritized caution above all else.”

The festival team laid down mulch to improve the grounds and ensure the show could go on. Questlove continued in his statement, “I’m personally thanking all the Live Nation staff – led by Shawn Gee for moving at lightning speed in solving the many obstacles and puzzles it took to even make today happen.”

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