New York City Pizza Festival Organizers Could Be Sued By Attendees

Several attendees of Saturday's New York City Pizza Festival are joining forces to sue the festival's organizers. Participants, who paid as much as $75 to attend, equated it to the disastrous Fyre Festival that took place in the Bahamas this year, and prompting New York state prosecutors to reportedly launched an investigation into the event.

Pizza lovers flocked to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick expecting to partake in some of the best pizza in the city, but ended up in long lines, receiving slivers of pie and describing the festival as a "total scam." While many sought refunds, others are seeking legal action.

"We are planning a lawsuit against the organizers of the 'pizza festival' and 'burger festival' who let everyone down," the creator of the Pizza Festival Scam Victims page wrote.

The festival was planned by Ishmael Osekre, of Brooklyn-based blog group Aputumpu, who in August 2016 put together the NYC African Food Festival, an event that was considered an "epic disaster."

The Pizza Festival Scam Victims page's organizer claimed a lawyer is interested in investigating the event. Victims, however, were encouraged to contact the page's organizer if they were deceived by either the "fake pizza festival or the fake hamburger festival." The burger festival didn't even have burgers.

The festival's tickets were non-refundable, but they are transferable. Refunds would only be issued if a request was issued within 24 hours of purchase or in the event that the festival was canceled by its organizers.

"Untimely delivery of food delayed the fun experiences we all looked forward to this past weekend. A make-up tasting will be announced shortly. Thanks for your patience," the festival's organizers automatic reply email read.

The organizers still haven't provided information on whether participants will be allowed to request refunds after the alleged delivery delay.

A representative of the New York City Pizza Festival and Pizza Festival Scam Victims group did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.

The family-friendly event was supposed to be a day-long celebration of "dough, cheese, tasty sauces and delicious toppings," according to the events Eventbrite page.

Disappointed attendees, however, have vocalized their frustration with the festival on the festival's Facebook page.

"Freaking scam," one user wrote in the event's Facebook page comments. "We drove from Central NJ for what?! We got there at 4 and the [rumor] was it was a scam. Issue me my $200 for 4 tickets. I will make it my mission you never run another event!"

"Are we entitled to refunds? This should have been announced earlier as it sounds the pizza wasn't available even during the earlier portion," a second user wrote.

"You really couldn't post this sooner? We drove from 3 hours away to find out when we got here it was cancelled," a third user added. "What bs. We expect a refund. U should have made several posts. We get here to be told it was cancelled all day."

No announcements have been made about the make-up festival date.