On Saturday, Feb. 28, some ticket holders showed up at Riverfront Park expecting to find two stages of live entertainment, food trucks and a beer garden.

Instead, they found … nothing.

The previous Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the festivities were to start, a press release had gone out informing local media the event's date had been rescheduled.

“Due to the recent streak of cold weather, the producers of Mardi Gras, Y'all! have decided to postpone this weekend's event until March 28 in hopes of hosting a warmer, more enjoyable outdoor celebration,” the release said.

The message was not posted on social media, however. That, plus the last-minute timing, gave little to no warning to people attending from out-of-town. Those who showed up at Mardi Gras, Y'all expecting Fat Tuesday-style festivities found something closer to Ash Wednesday.

Anger spilled onto social media — much of it directed at the event's promoter, Hootenanny Events, and its owner Sean Clem.

“Are you guys not going to apologize for the people who drove to Nashville for your Mardi Gras event, only to find out the day of the event, it had been rescheduled?” Denise A. Ransom wrote on Facebook. “So what's the excuse this time? It's great that you made sure to get the news out by posting and tweeting. (Not),” poster Amanda Behrens added.

"You couldn't even take three minutes to update the event's web site to let folks know the Mardi Gras event was canceled? Y'all are seriously unprofessional," customer Erik Schaffer posted. Travis Schaefer echoed this sentiment online, asking, “How do you change the date of a festival the day before it is supposed to happen and then not release any info publicly? Ridiculous. That's two big failures in a row.”

Last weekend was the scheduled makeup date for the event — or it would have been, had organizers not sent out another message March 23 that the event had been canceled outright. As before, apart from a press-only release, organizers apparently made no concerted effort to spread the word beyond a brief Facebook post March 27 — the day before the rescheduled event was to take place. This further confused potential attendees, who saw the event listed on different dates at different times on various websites.

They weren't the only ones puzzled by the promoter's handling of the event. Nashville blues/soul musician Gil Gann says he worked last year with Hootenanny on a Mardi Gras, Y'all event at Riverfront "and it went great." This year, he says, two weeks before the event date, another artist told him he was listed as a performer at the 2015 edition.

That wasn't a problem, Gann says, until he tried to find out more about the gig.

"I then attempted to contact Hootenanny regarding the details," he tells the Scene. "A week after the initial contact, I received an email from Mr. Clem saying he would contact me the next day to discuss.

"I never heard from him. I sent repeated emails and phone calls but there was no response."

It's the second time in as many months that a Hootenanny event has brought a torrent of complaints on social media.

This latest flap follows an online brouhaha over the Beer, Bacon, and Burlesque festival, held Jan. 17 at Track One near Greer Stadium. Also organized by Hootenanny Events, it was widely criticized by patrons who said vendors ran out of bacon and many of the beer options less than two hours into the six-hour event.

"My wife bought 2 tix for the event," Kyle Hankins wrote the Scene via direct message. Hankins, known to Nashville Predators fans as organist Krazy Kyle, said that they arrived "just before they ran out of food" and the beer was almost gone.

"We stayed for 45 min & bailed," Hankins wrote. "Normally beer festivals are fun. A beer festival with no beer is no fun."

Others flocked to social media to report their negative experiences, on both the promoter’s Facebook page and the Facebook event page. Some didn't even wait to leave the festival grounds to register their dissatisfaction online.

“The Beer Bacon & Burlesque event was one of the worst, most poorly planned beer tastings I've ever been to. Such a huge disappointment. I wish there was a way to get my money back," a patron named Geoff Davin posted.

Another customer, Kelley Tyler Hunnicutt, critiqued the event in detail.

“What a difference a year makes!" Hunnicutt wrote. "Having attended both Beer, Bacon and Burlesque events, I couldn't believe how poorly this year's event was run compared to last year. We arrived at 12:10 and had to park 4 blocks away because the event space only had approximately 20 parking spaces. It took about 30 minutes to get through the ticket and ID line because the girl there was more interested in drinking beer than getting people through the line.

"When we finally got our tiny cups, we made our way inside to find that 90 percent of the bacon sample tables were empty. At 1 p.m. the first beer vendor blew their kegs. Others followed suit shortly thereafter. By 2 p.m., the lines to get a 3-oz beer were about 25 minutes long and snaking through the crowd. This event was a major disappointment. So much so that I think I'll pass next year."

Others chimed in with similar problems. The event had been oversold "for the size of the venue." Beer was served in "mouthwash” cups that were not fully filled by the pourers, with some patrons saying that their cups "never saw a drop" of beer. The stage was, by many accounts, an elevated platform less than a foot tall. Nor was the event welcoming to designated drivers, as guests said the venue had "absolutely no place to sit" and no non-alcoholic drinks on hand.

"I don't think Hootenanny did the best job running the event or follow up at all," Hankins wrote.

At least the Beer, Bacon, and Burlesque event went on, though. Another Hootenanny event, a "Rocky Horror Picture Cruise" scheduled last October for Nashville Shores, was eventually postponed indefinitely after unusually rainy weather. Its handling drew similar criticism, as did an inaugural Nashville Pirate Rum Festival last July at Nashville Shores. That went on as scheduled, but drew a dozen complaints on its Facebook page of long lines and poor planning.

"I just don't know what to do with you and your company," Erica Penley wrote on Facebook. "I have emailed, posted on Facebook and emailed some more about a refund from an event back in October that got cancelled. I want my money back! I have seriously never dealt with a business that has this much disrespect for your customers."

Sean Clem and Hootenanny Events did not respond to multiple attempts by the Scene to reach them via phone, social media and email for this article. Clem did post an apology, however, on the Hootenanny Events Facebook page Jan. 20, as well as on the actual event page (and in reply to numerous complaints that can be found on each of the above listed pages and in the "Reviews" section of the Hootenanny Events Facebook page).

“As the owner of Hootenanny Events, I would like to offer my apology to those of you who attended our Beer Bacon and Burlesque event this past Saturday at Track One and had a less than enjoyable time," Clem wrote. "As a company we strive to provide quality entertainment and experiences for our guests, however at times we fall short and miss the mark … this past Saturday was one of those times. I understand that there were mistakes made in multiple areas that created a less than desirable experience for Beer Bacon and Burlesque attendees.”

In an effort to placate angry patrons, Clem offered those who arrived at the event between 1:45 and 3 p.m. a 50 percent refund, as well as a $25 gift card to Field House bar and grill and a free general admission ticket to any Hootenanny Events event in 2015 — along with five beer tickets to be used at Mardi Gras, Y’all.

Clem added that he would respond to emails within 48 hours with details regarding refunds, tickets and gift cards. He asked that attendees share his message with others who did not enjoy their experience and had not voiced their displeasure yet, and wrote that his response would be “forthcoming."

More than two months later, though, many Beer, Bacon, and Burlesque ticket-buyers have yet to receive a refund — or an email, for that matter — from Clem.

“I'm still trying to get my refund for Beer, Bacon and Burlesque. Your lack of customer service skills is astounding. If you say you're going to issue refunds, it actually needs to happen.” wrote Facebook user Alyson Ritter.

Frustrated patrons were further annoyed to find that in many of Clem’s Facebook postings, he incorrectly listed his contact email. One observer wondered if "it was intentional or if Sean just can't spell the name of his own company." The mistake was identified by a user who alerted patrons to send their refund requests to the correct address.

Nevertheless, ticket-buyers continue to post to the Hootenanny Events Facebook page and the Beer, Bacon, and Burlesque event page that they have not received a follow-up email from Clem or a refund. While some LivingSocial and GroupOn members reported they were able to get either a partial or full refund, it’s now been more than two months after the festival took place, with no refunds for many who purchased their tickets directly through the organizer.

On March 19, Clem posted the following message to the Hootenanny Events Facebook page:

Hello. Many of you have posted about our failure to provide refunds in a timely manner. While I certainly understand your frustration and want to rectify the situation the vast majority of the guests at Beer Bacon Burlesque purchased tickets through Groupon or Living Social. Many of those same people approached both us and those entities for refunds. Therefore, we were refunding people twice. As a result I was forced to suspend refunds until we were able to determine who had been refunded from both sources. Folks, I know this does not seem fair to those of you who were honest but I simply can not afford to refund people twice. Because Hootenanny Events is a small company and most of our staff work part time and the task of cross referencing the refunds is time consuming as it requires the cooperation of two third party vendors the amount of time required far exceeded our expectations. We expect to be finished by next week and will announce, via social media, the updated refund process.

In response, a customer named Chris Canlas posted a lengthy reply.

"Sean, I wrote you four emails and never received a reply," Canlas wrote. "In my first email, I only asked for a partial refund. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and ample time to respond before I posted my negative review to the Hootenanny Events Facebook page. Furthermore, you never took the time to reply back so I asked Living Social for a refund. Had you responded in a timely fashion then I wouldn't have posted to your page or asked LS for refund. Plus, I would have gladly posted a review that you did your best to rectify a bad situation. While your Facebook posts, appear to be genuine and sincere, I doubt that I will ever attend any Hootenanny Events again in the future based on this experience."

The Facebook users who commented in reply to Clem’s most recent post made no mention of receiving refunds. But one satisfied customer rose to Clem's defense on the Hootenanny Facebook page.

"Sean this was a great way to try and fix a mistake," Kati Fisher wrote in response to Clem's Jan. 20 apology post. "I was unable to make it this year, but I have been to 3 of your hootenanny events and have had a blast and was in impressed with coordination! You have always been a great host to my friends and I. Keep doing events mistakes always happen and make for a better event next time!"

In conclusion, she wrote, "Can't wait to come to the Mardi Gras Y'all!!"