We Are FSTVL kicked off on this Bank Holiday Weekend to a rather rocky start at the Damyns Hall Aerodrome. Headlined by acts like Chase & Status, The Black Madonna & Jaime Jones (plus a killer RESISTANCE lineup), We Are FSTVL is one of the best bank holiday festivals the UK offers. However, a BBC report says this year hundreds of people were stuck in lines for up to three hours in hot weather – a lack of wristbands being mentioned as the cause of the delay. Due to the heat, some people ended up collapsing and vomiting, but worst of all the commotion caused a stampede.
Multiple ravers got caught in it & suffered wounds by the metal barriers that were apparently being flung around. And according to the festival attendees they had no access to water, food or toilets in the blistering heat during the whole drama. Frustration & dehydration ultimately served as fuel for the stampede.
We Are FSTVL, which ran from Friday to Sunday, issued a brief statement on Saturday night apologizing for the chaos,
A longer more detailed follow-up was sent out on Sunday by the We Are FSTVL team:
“Due to unforeseen technical difficulties at the wristband exchange, customers had experienced longer waiting times and for that, we apologise. Security was able to overcome these issues and barriers were quickly reinstated.
Five customers sustained minor injuries and all were treated on site before rejoining the festival.
The situation was quickly resolved and measures including providing additional queueing lanes and dedicated water distributors have been taken to change the process on site today for the benefit of all festival goers.
Our sincere apologies for anyone that was affected by the issue at the gate. Our event planning is done in accordance with the highest standards, working with The Met Police, London Ambulance Service and London Borough of Havering and the London Fire Brigade. We take the security of our audience very seriously, and constantly review our processes to ensure a safe festival environment.“
– WE ARE FSTVL TEAM
You can view more tweets/videos about the incident below.
H/T Resident Advisor
