330 Metal Canceled, More Coming?

The Midi Beijing and Strawberry Beijing music festivals, along with their “counterparts in Shanghai,” will likely not be held this year, according to China Music Radar.

Photo: AP Photo / Alexander F. Yuan

The speculation comes after the 330 Metal Fest was canceled suddenly March 28 by local police over safety concerns that have grown ever since three dozen people were killed in a stampede in Shanghai’s Bund tourist area during recent New Year’s celebrations.

According to comments posted on the 330 Metal Fest’s Facebook page, many people believe the police acted on news that the organizers had oversold the event. 330 Metal, which was first held in 2001, is China’s biggest metal festival.

CMR thinks that safety issues will also sink the other two festivals, which it says are “struggling to obtain the proper permits to launch their events.” Apparently, Strawberry has been known to oversell tickets in the past, an action that led to insufficient crowd control measures.