LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Thousands of upset fans have had to change their plans after the Lovers & Friends festival was canceled due to windy weather conditions.
"[It's] really sad, really frustrating," said Larisa Gomez, who traveled from Brazil for the event.
"We are really disappointed," said Mike, who came over from Paris, France.
Just hours before the festival was set to take over the Strip, crews were seen taking down the stage at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
"I got a notification from the app that said canceled and I said are we in a dream," Gomez said. "They said they were checking the weather for days and it's pretty messed up because they posted the update like hours before the event."
Festival organizers announced the cancellation on social media on Friday night. The National Weather Service warned of wind gusts that could reach up to 60 miles per hours.
"The wind is not winding. The lashes are lashing. The hair is here. My friend's wig is still on and there's no freaking show," said Texas visitor Megan Starling.
Festivalgoers like Gomez and Starling tell me they have been waiting months to see their favorite artists. While they are heartbroken, they said they will make the best out of their visit to the entertainment capital of the world.
"We are here so we are going to make it happen," Gomez said.
"I feel frustrated but we are going to live our best life," Starling said. "We are going to have a good time. We are not finding any lovers but we are finding friends."
And as fans adjust their plans, so did food vendors that were ready to feed the people at the festival.
Stephen Ferruzza and his crew from Al Forno Ferruzza Pizza, which has locations in Oregon and New York, were going to make hundreds of pizzas. But after the cancellation, they were scrambling to figure out what to do. Instead of having the food go to waste, they set up shop at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission and handmade nearly 500 pizzas.
"We are going to bring them out to the homeless people today so they can try really authentic, really good, high-quality pizza," Ferruzza said.
While he said he's losing out on thousands of dollars because of the canceled show, he says it's heartwarming to help those in need.
"It's the number one duty of a chef to never let food go to waste," Ferruzza told me. "So if we have this food, we are feeding people. I think we are going to reap the benefit from feeding the homeless here in a spiritual way."
For social media star and food critic Keith Lee, instead of going to the festival, he hosted a pop-up event, near Eastern Avenue and Patrick Lane.
"We got an indoor place for everybody to come, take pictures, do a meet-and-greet. We got merch. We got free food. Just for the community, just to say thank you to people that did fly out here from different states or different countries, just to come to the festival or specifically meet us," Lee said. "This was on hours notice. I literally posted an address an hour before we opened so I'm thankful. I think this is the beginning of many. We did something like this in Atlanta. In Atlanta, I posted about two and a half hours and it was about 1,200 people. I feel like this is only the beginning."
WATCH: Channel 13 talks to Keith Lee about pop-up event after festival cancellation
That free food was provided by Fury Hot Chicken, which is based out of California. The truck was scheduled to appear at the Lovers & Friends Festival.
"We got a last minute call for a catering gig for Lovers & Friends. Due to the weather, it was canceled. So we kind of thought gosh, we came all this way. What are we going to do? We looked at Instagram and I started getting calls and text messages from family that Keith Lee was setting up an instant pop-up," said Dee Mcalister, the Chief Sales Officer of Fury Hot Chicken and Fury Labs LLC. "I reached out on Instagram, messaged him, my son messaged him. My family that lived here rolled up and had the chance to talk to him and here we are. He opened up a space for us."
Mcalister said this was "totally random" and thought the festival was canceled, they are thankful to work with Lee and that "it was meant to be".
"We actually have been stalking Keith Lee for about a year, year and a half, just trying to get him to notice us, see us, try out food. He actually came to the Bay Area a few months back but couldn't make that connection," Mcalister said. "So this was just divine order and it just so happened that everything lined up perfectly and here we are."
Officials say people who bought their tickets from Front Gate Tickets should be getting a refund within 30 days.
