CAYCE, S.C. — An electronic dance music festival featuring several sets from various artists at Columbia Speedway on Saturday has been all the talk in Cayce this week.
Over a dozen residents in the surrounding area of the venue reached out to Columbia Speedway to complain about reverberations throughout the city.
Cayce resident Julene Lake tells News 19 her Saturday night was anything but quiet.
"Nobody wants to hear bass nine hours in a row when you're relaxing on a weekend or you want to be outside," Lake said. "All my neighbors, I've even found a neighbor over on the 12th Street Extension that said his son couldn't go to sleep because of the base. And I have a neighbor on Elm Street, his windows were raddling."
During a routine soundcheck with the city, an Electronic Dance Music concert promoter renting the space at the Columbia Speedway was in compliance.
"It's our public safety officers, our police officers that go out there and work with the folks at the concert, and then they'll station around several parts of the city when they're doing soundcheck to see what they can hear," Cayce mayor Elise Partin said.
But after a few hours, that all changed. The volume exceeded the city's liking and, as a result, the venue was given a $1,000 noise citation.
According to the mayor, there is no specific decibel number limit.
"We voiced our disappointment, and we talked to many of the people who sent emails and who contacted us about it," Columbia Speedway management spokesperson John Banks said. "We apologize for the issue. We will address it. This promoter will probably not be back unless major changes are made."
On the other hand, concert-goers had a different experience.
"From my perspective, I thought the volume was fine," concert attendee Jackson Derrick said. "Everyone else seemed to be having a really good time, and I think it ended, I mean, it didn't go all hours of the night. It ended pretty relatively early on in the night."
Officials with Columbia Speedway said they are in the process of finding a sound technician to consult with any music groups approved to play at the venue going forward.