Middlelands Music Festival Killed My Alpaca

Following an alpaca death, Texan residents blaming the Middlelands Music Festival.

In May, the Middlelands Music Festival took place at the Texas Renaissance Festival Fairgrounds. The first-annual three-day electronic music festival attracted over 60,000 fans. Yet, following the death of an alpaca, along with a host of other grievances, a Texas community voted against hosting the 2018 follow-up.

Several weeks ago, local residents of Todd Mission voiced their complaints about the festival at Magnolia City Hall. The Middlelands Music Festival, according to county residents, was a “nightmare.” They complained about the noise and the traffic the Middlelands Music Festival brought in. One resident complained,

“When I called Saturday and they said it was going to go on Sunday I said I’m just going to kill myself.”

Todd Mission residents placed multiple calls to the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office to no avail. Now, controversy once again surrounds the Middlelands Music Festival.

Lynn Betts, owner of Tejas Alpacas, claimed that the Middlelands Music Festival killed one of her junior herdsires. Following a necropsy, a vet confirmed the reason for the herdsire’s death: “persistent and loud bass” from the festival. The poor animal, named Lord Lucas, faced extensive stress from to the music prior to its death.

Betts’ alpaca farm is only a half a mile from the Texas Renaissance Festival grounds. According to the Navasota Examiner, Betts has raised alpacas there for over fourteen years.

Kyle Pertier, a member of the Call of Booty pirate group, organized a GoFundMe account to help Lynn Betts. Within one week, 90 Middlelands Music Festival patrons donated over $2,000 in memory of Lord Lucas. The Call of Booty pirate group frequents renaissance fairs.

Speaking with the paper, Peltier explained that he felt part of the Todd Mission community while at the fair.

“We cannot know for certain if the noise from our music festival contributed to Lord Lucas’ death. But as a group of festival patrons we felt like we were part of the local Todd Mission community while we were there, and we wanted to reach out and help our neighbor.”

Following neighbors’ initial complaints, the Texas Renaissance Festival vowed to no longer host the electronic music festival. In a statement, Texas Renaissance Festival manager Terre Albert said,

“TRF is always looking for new ways to bring fun and magic to the Houston area. That’s why we partnered with Insomniac, C3 Events and Live Nation, to create the Middlelands Music Festival on our grounds. Middlelands was a great success and brought over 60,000 people to the area from all over the country and the world. However, after a meeting with executive leadership and based on Texas Renaissance Festival’s overall mission, we’ve have made the decision to not move forward in hosting the event again.”

Image by Diane Hamilton (CC by 2.0)