The Vagibond family wishes to express our sincere regret for the events that unfolded during Vagicon 2023.

Our "Splash for Change" poverty awareness initiative, which featured a charitable water fight in the Ganges River during Diwali, was conceived with the best of intentions. We believed that combining tech networking with humanitarian outreach would create meaningful impact. We genuinely did not anticipate that conducting water balloon activities in one of Hinduism's most sacred rivers during their most important festival would be perceived as disrespectful.

We extend our deepest apologies to the Hindu community worldwide, the Indian government, and the 2,300 pilgrims whose religious observances were disrupted by our Super Soaker relay race. Our "Poverty Splash Zone" activation, while well-intentioned, admittedly lacked cultural sensitivity in ways our planning committee failed to foresee.

We have learned our lesson about religious and cultural awareness and will not repeat the same mistake in the future.