Millennials Talk Festival Safety: ‘Maybe I Feel Safer Than I Actually Am’

Òscar Garcia Herraiz – Scene from Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain

Millennials were handed a microphone at this year’s Eurosonic Noorderslag conference in The Netherlands, to explain to festival organizers what they are looking for in an event.

Four girls, aged between 15 and 17, answered the questions of professionals working in live events. Since the discussion was held as part of Yourope Event Safety Group’s seminar, it mainly revolved around health and safety related issues.
 
Up until being invited to sit on the panel, almost none of them had really thought about security and safety at festivals, just about the music, the fun and protecting personal property from thieves. One girl said: “I always go with one of my parents, and when they’re there, I always feel safe. So I only had good experiences.”

Only one of the panelists initially said: “I don’t always feel safe at festivals. I once even witnessed a false terrorist alarm. This creates a climate of fear. Now, a guy wearing a jacket in a warm room can be enough to scare me off. But I will most likely just stay there, because I usually think the best rather than the worst of people.”

One of the festival operators in the audience responded that she should have reported the man, arguing that it’s better to make sure than to regret it later. It demonstrated how quickly the perception of danger can change. “Talking about this makes me realize that maybe I feel safer than I actually am,” said one of the girls.

Another one added: “I was always worried about my stuff, or losing my friends. I had no idea it was so important for you guys to be informed if we see something suspicious.”

One panelist remarked: “If you’re stuck in a crowd, and cannot go to someone, and are sure that something weird is going on, a message line or something similar to communicate with the crew would be helpful.” So Chris Kemp, one of the initiators of the Yourope Event Safety Group, asked whether it would make sense to hang up posters with such an emergency number on trees around the festival site. “It would,” one girl replied, “but I never go to festivals where there are trees.“

“If you start posting this stuff, people will start worrying and cannot enjoy the event as usual,“ another one added. “When I’m at the festival itself, I don’t really think about what I fear. The recent attacks did put the topic on the map. But with all of these signs with emergency numbers and ‚see something say something‘ around, you’ll start seeing things that aren’t there, suspecting everyone.”

Actual fears, the girls agreed, include the fear of theft and sexual harassment. “If you’re close together you can never be sure that a weird guy, or girl, might touch you. And they’ll always say it was an accident, and nothing will happen,” one of them said.

It became clear that none of the panelists really wanted to conjure up hypothetical scenarios of danger and imagine how they would feel or respond. One of them emphasized that she’d prefer advice on how to prepare for situations that actually took place at almost every event, such as theft. Drugs didn’t seem to scare them neither: “I’m not scared of drugs,” said one. “It happens, even at our school. I know what people look like that are stoned. I’m more afraid of alcohol. From my experience, people on alcohol do worse things than people on drugs.”

The girls had also noticed increased police presence at certain events, and found it to be “pretty intense. Guards, okay, I feel safer. But armed guards? That worries me more,” one of them said. Her fellow panelist agreed: “If there are too many armed police men, I’d start to worry. If I only see armed guards, I think, it’s not safe here, rather than perceive them just a safety precaution.

“You really need to find a balance between no scaring people but making them feel safe.”

The panel also agreed that messages about safety related issues should be conveyed personally, rather than via main-stage screens, for example. For example through a stewart at the entrance, during bag-check or at the cloakroom, telling the arrivals where to go in case of an emergency, and who to speak to.

“It will make you feel more comfortable taking action,“ one panelist explained. “Do it when they get in. Not when they’re already at the festival, where they just want to have fun. But at the back checks they’re waiting anyways.”

There were also some marketing related questions around the ways the panelists informed themselves about upcoming events. For some it was friends’ recommendations, for others it was Instagram. “I get most of my information from Instagram, from bands I follow. It shows when they’re in town or close. I first followed the Chili Peppers, saw they went to Pinkpop, so I started following Pinkpop,” one girl explained.

Festival apps are overrated, at least none of the panelists were interested in downloading them. “My phone is always full, I cannot download any more things,“ said one.

“I’ve got an iPhone 4, I’m saving for a new one, but I probably wouldn’t even be able to download the app,“ said another. They agreed, that “one app for all the festivals would be helpful. Not individual ones for each.”

One of the girls said: “If all information is already available online, including line up and map, I don’t go the extra mile to download an app. For information, I go to the site. For updates, Instagram and Snapchat. Definitely not Facebook. Maybe Twitter.”

Data was a problem. “There are a lot of young people that don’t have a lot of data. There need to be possibilities to check things without internet.”
Kemp’s remark of “so we should provide Wifi,“ was met with an emphatic “yes,“ by all panelists.

Ticket prices are definitely an issue. “I’m not that rich. If something’s more than €10 to €15, I usually cannot go,“ one of the girls said. She was more willing to spend more on a concert, which was a “personal experience,“ than on a festival. “It’s not like I always want to see all of the bands that are coming. And I don’t really want to pay for them. At a concert, I know the artist very well, I really want to go there, so I’m willing to pay more.”

Another one preferred festivals, because “I like discovering new things. I like seeing the people more than the bands. When I go to festivals I make a lot of friends. When I go to concerts, I go with my dad, which isn’t bad, but not the same.”