HUNGARY: Organisers of Sziget music festival say they have measures in place to prevent the kind of stampede seen at Germany's Love Parade

Record ID: 731283

  • Title: HUNGARY: Organisers of Sziget music festival say they have measures in place to prevent the kind of stampede seen at Germany's Love Parade
  • Date: 13th August 2010
  • Summary: VISITORS AT MAIN STAGE MORE OF FESTIVAL VISITORS (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) FESTIVAL VISITOR FROM HUNGARY, EIAL, SAYING: "I am staying here in my tent. I think people are looking after each other, so we don't have to be afraid." (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED FESTIVAL VISITOR FROM AUSTRALIA, SAYING: "The more people the more fun. That's what we need. Not too many people at all." MAIN STAGE ***CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES*** ENGLISH BAND MADNESS PERFORMING IN CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHERS WORKING FANS DANCING SECURITY CORRIDOR AT MAIN STAGE
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Hungary
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA8PTI0FKS8EEA02PB8EEYI224B
  • Story Text: The organisers of Hungary's Sziget music festival reassured festival-goers that measures were in place to prevent overcrowding as the event officially kicked off on Wednesday.
    The festival takes place a little over two weeks since 21 people died in a stampede at the Love Parade music festival in Germany.
    The Hungarian event is named Sziget (meaning island) as it is located on the Óbudai-sziget ("Old-Buda Island"), an island in the Danube River, north of the Budapest city centre. Like the location of the Love Parade festival, there is only one entrance, but organisers say there are measures in place to prevent a bottle-neck of visitors arriving at once.
    "There is only one tight point at the festival, which is the entrance bridge where only a limited number of people are able to pass by," festival chief Karoly Gerendai said.
    "That's why we have a system of two gates at two sides of the bridge to avoid having too many people there at the same time. We only allow a limited number of people to the bridge to avoid crowded situations which may result in panic. The area of the festival would be able to host several hundred thousand visitors, but we limit the number of visitors to 75,000 to avoid crowded situations," he added.
    Hungarian police monitor the entrance with security cameras.
    Head of the festival security service Gyorgy Lasz said festival-goers should be reassured that the festival was prepared for any possible emergencies.
    "We started security preparation two to three months before the festival. Our security plan also has an evacuation plan. If there is a natural disaster, bomb threat or other danger, we have strict rules for what to do. The festival organisers and authorities also accepted this security plan. We have 1500 security guards here, and 5-600 are working to handle the crowd," he said.
    Those attending the festival's opening day did not appear concerned about any possible risks.
    "I am staying here in my tent. I think people are looking after each other, so we don't have to be afraid," said Eial.
    "The more people the more fun. That's what we need," said another festival-goer from Australia.
    The Sziget Festival has been running for 18 years and attracts performers from all round the world.
    This year's acts include Madness, Iroan Maiden, Kasabian and The Hives.
    In 2009, nearly 400,000 people attended the event.
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