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Global launches new festival safety initiative, Festival Safe

Festivalsafe.com, the brainchild of Broadwick Live's Jon Drape, hopes to be a "one-stop shop for how to have the best possible time" at UK festivals

By Jon Chapple on 26 Apr 2018

Jon Drape, Ground Control, Festival Safe

Broadwick Live/Ground Control's Jon Drape


Festival Safe, a new safety guide formulated by festival organisers, other industry professionals and emergency services, has launched in the UK ahead of this summer’s festival season.

The brainchild of Jon Drape – festival director of several high-profile UK events, including Parklife and Festival №6, and group production director of promoter Broadwick Live – Festival Safe (festivalsafe.com) aims to provide both first-time and regular attendees with the knowledge needed to reduce the harms associated with the festival experience.

The Festival Safe website went live today, and features information on every aspect of festivalgoing, including what to know before going, camping, crime, drugs and alcohol, sexual health, mental health and more. “Whether it’s as trivial as reminding festivalgoers to pack their wellies, to explaining key steps in managing a criminal incident, Festival Safe aims to fill the gap between festivalgoers and their lack of festival knowledge and to reduce harm,” reads a statement.

The initiative is backed by Global, the parent company of Broadwick Live and the the UK’s second-largest festival operator. Global-owned festivals include Field Day, Y Not, Hideout, Truck, South West Four, Victorious Festival, Snowbombing (Austria and Canada) and Festival №6.

“I realised no one had laid out a manifesto for how to have a great experience and not a festival fail”

“I’ve worked and attended hundreds of different festivals and events over the years, and I’ve literally heard it all from hypothermia in July to people not realising they have to bring their own tents,” comments Drape.

“Eventually you see patterns emerge and festivalgoers making the same mistakes and getting in the same jams year in, year out. It was at this point that I realised no one had laid out a manifesto for how to have a great experience and not a festival fail. That’s ultimately what Festival Safe is: a one-stop shop for how to have the best possible time.

“It’s not a rulebook to batter people around the head with – it’s a considered and knowing guide drawn from decades of collective experience, good and bad, to ensure everyone has an amazing time, from first-timers to seasoned veterans.”

 

In addition to Broadwick/Global events, Festival Safe has partnered with Live Nation’s Download, Community, Reading and Leeds, Wireless and Latitude and more, and is being made available to “all organisations invested in promoting wellbeing and safety at their events”.

 


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