It was the first time in three years that Guatemala celebrated its independence from Spain after the previous two years' celebrations were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At least nine people have died and some 20 have been injured in a stampede in Guatemala as the country celebrated its independence, according to firefighters.
Thursday's concert was held on a field often used for such events.
While the Guatemalan rock band Bohemia Suburbana closed the show, some concertgoers were crushed as some tried to leave as others were entering the same place.
Nancy Queme, who was at the concert, said there had been thousands of people there. “Because of the rain there was a lot of mud,” she said. “I think because of this the people couldn’t move and they fell.”
The lineup of bands had started playing Wednesday afternoon. She said that even in the early hours of Thursday there were still families with children there.
“They closed off the whole area and only left two access (points),” Queme said.
“The entrances seemed really small to me. I stayed pretty far back and decided to leave minutes before the end of the concert.”
Chaotic scene
Video circulating on social media platforms shows dozens of people smashing into others.
Shouts can be heard calling for people to stop pushing and to move to one side so those who fell could be rescued.
Amilcar Rivas, Quetzaltenango city manager, said that event organizers did not have a grip on security and crowd control. He said the event did have a permit.
Quetzaltenango, which holds Guatemala's second largest independence celebration, is about 125 miles (200 kms) west of Guatemala City.
Guatemala is celebrating on Thursday 201 years of independence from Spain.
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