The shock is finally starting to subside following last weekend’s tragic events at the Love Parade festival in German city Duisburg. But now the analysis and investigation is getting underway and ripples of concern are being felt by the organisers of major music gatherings all over the world. Just how safe are our outdoor dance parties?
What seems clear now is that local Duisburg police had been trying to stop people reaching the parade area because of significant overcrowding. But party-goers panicked at a bottle-neck tunnel entrance to the site – now being dubbed the ‘death tunnel’ – and the resultant stampede cost the lives of 20, and injured over 500 more.
German prosecutors investigating the events of last Saturday have, in the past couple of days, seized the Parade organisers’ planning documents. Whilst Duisburg Mayor Adolf Sauerland insists that any apportioning of guilt would be wrong until investigations are complete, there is already talk among critics about charges of ‘negligent homicide’. Those same critics are saying that organisers and police were not prepared for such big numbers of revellers and that the site itself – an old railway yard; the Parade, of course, moves to a different city of Germany’s ‘Metropole Ruhr’ each year – was too small, was untested and generally unsuitable.
There is plenty of disagreement between German media, organisers and the local authorities. A local official had claimed last weekend that the site could hold 300,000 people and was at no point full but then the German national press keeps hammering home the point that over a million people were at Duisburg come the time of the disaster. Whatever the true number, no one can deny that July 24 was the day the ‘love’ died. As a mark of respect for the victims and their families, lead organiser Rainer Schaller swiftly announced that Love Parade, one of the world’s biggest dance music festivals, would never again be held.
What does all of this mean, then, for our festival scene? Chris Smith, organiser of major world music celebration WOMAD – held in Wiltshire, England this weekend - certainly believes that the UK, boasting one of the busiest international festival schedules, is unlikely to see a repeat of Duisburg: “We take safety incredibly safety in the UK. I think we have higher standards than anyone else.”
It hasn’t helped that UK festival security was recently called into question following the alleged rapes of two female fans at popular Suffolk weekender Latitude. Last week, Melvyn Benn, Chief Exec of Festival Republic which runs Latitude, said his organisation, the UK’s biggest festival music group, was planning to raise awareness of the potential dangers faced by female festival-goers at all of its events; and that security would be re-assessed.
Security at this year’s Reading and Leeds music festivals has already been increased following violent altercations last year, meaning more police, stewards and security agents, as well as a ban on alcohol being brought on-site after 6pm on the final evening. The V Festivals, in Essex and Staffordshire, meanwhile, are using both uniformed and undercover police to keep the peace.
Fundamentally, however, the standards of security at UK festivals have improved immeasurably over the past 10 years. Andy Stevens, General Manager of AP Security, a major supplier of security resource and management expertise to Leeds, Glastonbury, Latitude and the Big Chill, points out how major lessons have been learned following tragedies at Roskilde, Denmark in 2000 (nine were killed in a crowd rush towards the main stage) and Fatboy Slim’s over-subscribed Brighton beach bash in 2002 (two died and over 100 were injured when a quarter of a million people hit the pebbles for Slim’s big-beat DJ set.)
“A whole raft of measures has been introduced in recent years, which makes festivals safe and secure but doesn’t stop fans enjoying themselves” Stevens explains. “These days, layers of procedures and contingency and crisis plans are in place months before an event kicks off, the first people arrive and the first drum beat rings out. We will liaise with emergency services, councils and organisers at the earliest planning meetings, and ensure that we’re covered for everything from bad weather to sudden structural problems and security issues on site. At UK festivals today, the lines of communication between us all are exemplary.”
Indeed, rapid, robust communication between managers at the Love Parade last weekend was seemingly absent. Toolroom’s Mark Knight was even asked to keep DJing by reactive organisers who were already aware of the stampede but hoping to control the situation by keeping the music blasting out.
“The UK has proper festival experts” Stevens points out, “I mean we’re world leaders now when it comes to safe and successful festival management. Legislation for outdoor events here is also well advanced; we have a great framework to operate effectively within. Of course, the powers that be could do more in terms of consultation with new legislation; they need to get security companies like ours involved at an earlier stage. We’re also in favour of the licensing of festival staff. The crude bouncer of the 1980s is a thing of the past, sure, but today’s nightclub doormen are still very different to those running security at festivals. Licensing would help ensure that you have the right people working in the right places, for the good of everyone.”
A number of major UK dance festivals are still ahead of us this summer, starting with Global Gathering and followed by Creamfields and Big Chill. Undoubtedly, organisers will be concerned by what has taken place in Germany but they needn’t be alarmed. The UK has a firm but fair grip on its burgeoning festival scene; that grip will only get tighter, undoubtedly, but with the interests of the music and its hedonistic followers totally at the forefront. The party can still rock on….
Defected pays its deepest respects to the families of those lost in Duisburg last weekend. RIP dance music lovers…
