The Thumpers are not the bullet-headed bouncers the name suggests — mostly they are involved with the erection and maintenance of fences around the festival campsites.
Festival security is serious about seeing people have a really good time.
“With the size of these events now, we can’t afford to treat it any other way,” says event manager Chris Gillies.
“You’re talking about a city but a city of people who are drunk and stoned. We have to be ready in case things go horribly wrong.”
Key areas of concern such as moving large volumes of people into and out of the festival site have been identified, and strategies formulated, to reduce the potential for disorder to an absolute minimum.
A major focus is getting people on and off buses, says Mr Gillies.
“At the end of the evening there is a large exit of people in a fairly excitable state. We have put a lot more planning into how we get them on to buses. We have come a long way since the days of buses pulling into the paddock.”
“Specialist security” with a focus on crowd control will help ensure customer safety in the area in front of the stages. A specially-designed crowd barrier is designed to provide protection. The barrier is made up of one metre sections bolted together. It has no hard edges and the weight of the audience stops it from falling over, says Mr Gillies.
“On the stage-side of the barrier is a small platform the barrier crew can stand on. These guys are trained to identify and extract people who are in trouble.”
Once rehydrated, assessed and repaired, the customer can be “reintroduced” to the audience through a less-populated area.
With reaction forces “like an elite, crack corps” on-site, festival security gets even more ninja.
Other security personnel are trained to identify troublemakers, penetrate the crowd and remove them with minimum disruption.
Lifeguards stationed near the water-slide will help prevent people doing themselves an injury, and along with St John as a “first line of defence”, form a crew of “angels”.
“The angels are a whanau-based group who look after kids who are so intoxicated they can’t deal with it. The angels rehydrate them and make sure they are warm.”
Two routes for emergency vehicles have been arranged for swift egress. Festival organisers have also produced a survival guide.
“It has a lot of ‘stay safe’ tips about what to do if things go pear-shaped.
“We take every aspect of security very seriously.”
The best security advice probably comes from the festival organisers’ simplest request . . . “Leave the dickheads at home”.
0 comments:
Post a Comment