It Took Attendees 2+ Hours to Leave an Iowa Music Festival

There were many changes made ahead of the 2025 Hinterland Music Festival in St. Charles, Iowa this past weekend, but there was still one issue that concert-goers are hoping will be addressed in 2026: PARKING! More specifically, leaving the parking lot at the end of the night.

Kerri Mac

Hinterland Parking

According to a new article from the Des Moines Register, the main problem that festival-goers had in 2025 wasn't over-crowding or lack of water stations, it was actually the parking situation. An attendee named Kayli Mernka told the Register that she had left the Sunday night concert a little bit early to get back to her vehicle, but she still ended up stuck in the one-day north general admission parking lot for several hours. She got back to her car around midnight, but didn't make it back to her home in Des Moines until around 3:45 a.m.! A quote from Kayli reads:

"I got to the parking lot and then I literally sat in the parking spot for three full hours. The entire lot was completely full, so there wasn't even space to move, even if we wanted to try to find a different way out."

In the Hinterland Music Festival 2025 Facebook Group, other attendees have expressed the same frustrations with trying to leave the festival on Sunday night. Some concerns included missing flights, running out of gas, the lack of bathroom access, and what would happen if there was a medical emergency. Some people also noted that they didn't see any staff directing traffic, and suggested that the festival make managing the parking lot a priority next year.

2025 Improvements

Despite the issue of post-festival traffic, this year's Hinterland seemed to be a huge improvement from the 2024 event! Many people on social media have raved about their experiences, as well as the performances from this year's headliners, which included Tyler, The Creator, Kacey Musgraves, and Lana Del Rey.

Organizers made a ton of changes ahead of this year's Hinterland Festival, including a huge expansion of the festival grounds, new walking paths, a relocation of the amphitheater, more watering stations, improved shuttles, more trees and shade structures, and additional food vendors. They also implemented a new refund policy called the "90 Degree Guarantee," which allowed festival-goers the option to get their money back if they decided not to attend because of extreme heat. Luckily, Mother Nature decided to cooperate this year. According to the Weather Channel, the high temperature was 77 degrees on Friday, 80 on Saturday, and 78 on Sunday.

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To read more about the changes made by Hinterland in 2025, click HERE.

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Gallery Credit: Courtlin