Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: @hey_itsalexandria, @alittlebitbarbie/Tiktok
After years of watching poorly organized events go viral for overpromising and underdelivering, you’d think that the people who organize these things would have learned their lesson by now. Fyre Fest, DashCon, and the immersive Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow have all shown us that the best course of action is probably just to cancel everything and refund people’s tickets, and today we can add another data point: Barbie Dream Fest in Fort Lauderdale. Attendees were promised the “ultimate Barbie fan event” but were instead greeted by a massive, mostly empty room with a cardboard cutout of Barbie’s Dreamhouse.
Barbie Dream Fest took place over the weekend after eight months of buildup. Problems were obvious from the start, per one TikTok from Alexandria Dougan, who documented her experience at the event. “It said it opened at nine, we weren’t let in till 9:45,” said Dougan over clips of pink inflatable arches that read “TOGETHER WE SHINE” and “YOUR DREAM STARTS HERE.” She added that vendors were still arriving and setting up when she entered the space.
Once she finally got in, she described the venue as having “so much emptiness.” There was an “’80s disco”–themed roller rink that was much smaller than expected and had “no lights” but did feature a tiny disco ball. Barbie’s Dreamhouse, which was advertised as “interactive,” was made of cardboard with one sad-looking fake palm next to it. They did manage to get a pink VW bus, though.
“The space was huge, and it was not filled. So much empty space,” Dougan told People after her video went viral. “It was really heartbreaking to take our hard-earned money and our time that we set aside to spend with family to be wasted.”
Brenna Miller, another attendee, also posted from the event, calling it “super lackluster.”
In her video, you can see how few people are in attendance and the underwhelming amount of square footage the actual event is taking up. The color that dominates Miller’s video is concrete gray, with a few splashes of pink. Not exactly what you want from your fabulous multiday Barbie event.
“It just makes me laugh, because if I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,” Miller later told NBC News.
So how much did it cost to enter this cavernous, drab expo? It wasn’t cheap. Day passes started at $69 for adults and went as high as $449 for the “Dream Pass,” which bought you perks like a $50 coupon on autographs, an exclusive badge and lanyard, and access to the presale for next year’s Barbie Dream Fest. (I doubt people will be taking them up on that last one.)
While the event space was decidedly a flop, the organizers did follow through on some of their promises. Serena Williams and Angel Reese appeared as promised, both sitting for Q&A discussions in their finest pink outfits. Sadly, there is no footage of them walking into the event and realizing they had flown to Fort Lauderdale to talk about ambition in an echoey exhibition space.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Mattel was quick to distance itself from the event. “Barbie Dream Fest was created by Mischief Management, which licensed the Barbie brand from Mattel,” the company stated. “We are working with Mischief Management, who are managing attendee feedback and issuing full refunds to everyone who purchased tickets. We want every fan experience to be an excellent one.” In its own statement, Mischief Management confirmed it was refunding ticket purchases.
We should all place bets on which piece of intellectual property will be next to have a mildly disastrous fan event. We’ve now had Barbie, Willy Wonka, and, lest you forget, that one Bridgerton ball that featured a pole dancer for some reason. I’m putting my money on a horribly run Hunger Games convention that results in at least one person getting accidentally struck with an arrow.
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