Standing in a wet field, drinking warm beer and queuing for hours for an outside toilet, these are the things that come to my mind when I think of British music festivals. But with 670 events held in Britain in 2010 and the top 200 festivals contributing £450m to the economy in ticket sales, travel, accommodation and food, I can’t argue with their popularity.
Their diverse nature seems to have far reaching appeal that spans gender, class and age. From the older generation who’ve been to every Glastonbury since it first opened its fields back in 1970 to the teenagers experiencing their first ever mosh pit and everyone in between. Prime Minister David Cameron attends the Cornbury festival in Oxfordshire, Prince Charles has been seen at Glastonbury and Prince Harry was spotted at Womad.
Music Festivals; When Did it All Start?
Music festivals, unsurprisingly, are not a new thing. They’re thought to have been common with the Ancient Egyptians back in the 4th century and the Ancient Greeks in the 6th century. The Ancient Greeks founded the Pythian Games, a predecessor to the Olympic Games, which included dance and musical displays.
Staying in Greece, but moving forward 400 years, there was the three-day Festival of the Vine Flower. Not unlike our festivals of today this included song and dance performances along with drinking contests!
1876 saw Germany’s first Bayreuth Festival which was founded by composer Richard Wagner as a way to showcase his work. The annual festival continues to take place (now in the specially-designed Bayreuth Festspielhaus Theatre) and Wagner enthusiasts wait years for tickets.
A Recent History of Music Festivals
The oldest popular music festival still in existence is thought to be the Reading Festival. This started in 1961 and was originally called the National Jazz and Blues Festival. It was started by Harold Pendleton (founder of London’s Marquee Club) and tickets went for £2. The event continued to increase in popularity and a sister event was opened in Leeds in 1999.
The Isle of Wight Festival first took place in 1968, with 10,000 attendees. Within just two years it had grown to a staggering 600,000 and was headlined by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and The Who. Concerned by the large increase in visitors to the tiny island Parliament passed the Isle of Wight Act in 1971 which banned unlicensed gatherings of more than 5,000 people. However it started up again in a new site in 2002 and in 2012, approximately 55,000 people attended.
You can’t think music festival without thinking Woodstock, well not if you’re over 40 at least! It was held at a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, in 1969. The 600-acre farm had more than half a million people and was billed as “three days of love and peace”. There were famously no reported incidences of violence but that didn’t stop locals from protesting against the festival and Governor Nelson Rockerfeller was on the verge of sending thousands of troops to the area to disperse the “unrest”.
Glastonbury Festival (initially called the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival) was the brainchild of Michael Eavis. He charged just £1 per ticket for the first festival, which took place on September 19, 1970 (the day after the death of Jimi Hendrix). From an audience of 1,500 in 1970 to more than 140,000 in 2011, the festival continues to be popular with all ages and features diverse music genres.
The 90’s & 00’s saw the emergence of some colossal events, now firm favourites on the festival scene. T in the Park opened in 1994, two years later came V Festival and then Creamfields opened two years after that. The first Download Festival was in 2003, followed by Bestival in 2004. Wireless opened inLondon’s Hyde Park in 2005 and Latitude the following year.
Accidents at Music Festivals
Festivals can, by nature, be a little wild. Large numbers of, often intoxicated, people jumping around to loud music does not make for a calm and orderly environment. Most festivals these days are well managed and able to deal with any incidents that may occur as the result of over indulgence in alcohol or drugs.
Some, however, fall short when it comes to health and safety at festivals. Event organisers' have a duty of care to ticket holders, performers and staff. It’s important they abide by the strict health and safety legal regulations.
In 2011 there were two tragic outdoor event accidents at music festivals, the Indiana State Fair stage collapse on August 13th and just 5 days later the storm at Pukkelpop in Belgium. 5 people died at Pukkelpop as a fierce and unpredicted storm blew down concert tents, uprooted trees and knocked down light towers and video screens. Mayor Claes said initial checks on emergency planning measures (which included "checking trees for their resistance to high winds, and testing the drainage system") left officials confident they had done everything that could be expected of them given such freak conditions.
However investigations in the Indiana State Fair where 7 people died when a stage blew down resulted in very different findings. As well as citing the inadequate capacity of the lateral load resisting system, they went to say that while the Indiana State Fair Commission (ISFC) had taken some steps to prepare for an emergency they were inadequate for the size of event. The ISFC were also said to lack formal protocols for delaying, postponing, or cancelling the production which resulted in confusion over who had the authority to make decisions regarding the concert.
Music Festival Injuries
- Falling objects – Stage and lighting construction can be dangerous work at the best of times, and the added unpredictable weather conditions and tight deadlines don’t help. Construction workers are at risk from scaffolding, wires and other electrical equipment.
- Slips, trips & falls – While you can’t hold an organiser responsible for a muddy field they must make sure that all walkways are properly fitted and that fire exits are clearly visible.
- Assault injuries – It’s not uncommon to see bottles, glasses and sometimes people being thrown. All of these could result in injury and many festival organisers have banned glass and crowd surfing due to safety concerns
- Tinnitus / Loss of hearing – Festivals often mean loud music but organisers have a responsibility to ensure sound is kept to a safe level.
If you’ve sustained a personal injury at a festival and feel it was caused by the negligence of the organisers, then you may be able to bring a claim for compensation against them. Even if your injury was caused by a member of the public at the festival, you may still be able to make a personal injury claim against them. Call us on on 0800 756 7774. Our friendly specialist advisors can talk to you about your situation and see if you have a valid compensation claim. There is no charge for this service and you are under no obligation to claim with us.
http://info.mayiclaim.co.uk/personal_injury_compensation_claim_news/bid/348230/A-Brief-History-of-Festivals-Music-Festival-Accidents
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