MAGNOLIA, Texas – There was a lot of music at the Middlelands Festival -- and lots of good times.
It was too good of a time, apparently, for 42 people arrested during the four-day music event held this month at the Texas Renaissance Festival in the small, Grimes County town of Todd Mission about 6 miles north of Magnolia. Neighbors say it got pretty rowdy.
"We're the ones who have to deal with it. All the traffic," Cheryl Bowlen said. "We're the ones who have to deal with the music, the loud music, going on. We're the one that has to leave just to get our sanity."
Grimes County deputies arrested most of the people on drug charges. They found ecstasy, LSD, cocaine and marijuana.
About 90,000 folks attended the festival and the atmosphere had people who live in the area angry. Many of them turned out to Magnolia City Hall Thursday to express their frustrations with the festival organizers -- but the organizers never showed up.
They apparently missed their flight to town.
"This was a different kind of event," said Travis Bryant, of the Texas Renaissance Festival. "It was a concert. And concerts can be a little loud sometimes. And this one was a little bit of a shock to the system for the residents in the area."
No-show or not -- the future of the festival now is up in the air.
"These concerns, a lot of these concerns need to be addressed in order for this event to go forward and be successful," Bryant said.
The Grimes County Sheriff's Office says the county's 911 system was so overwhelmed with calls about loud music that people with other issues were unable to get through.
