Crowd Management

[Ohinever]

I''ve written about this before on here, but again this year I was in some pretty bad crushes. I am no crowd novice, having being going to gigs and major football matches for thirty years now.

 

After Lionel walking down the left hand path from the hill there was an entirely predictable crush as others were trying to move perpendicular to go to the long drops.

 

I had to talk a nice lady down from a panic attack - nice Glastonbury moment when I bumped into her again later and her husband took a photo of me. Ha.

 

Anyway I digress,  like most of you I love this festival and do not want to see it threatened by tragedy, and of course from a human perspective the need to avoid this is paramount.

 

Any reg could tell the organisers which points need crowd control and at which times.

 

I hope this occurs before "something bad" happens.

 

Cracking Glasto, btw.

Edited June 29, 2015 by mooro

[neil999]

lionel was up against no-one that was gonna take people away, crazy really

[august1]

I find it mad they allow williams green to function in the way it does on a thursday

[mrsstocksey]

I made the mistake of trying to go to the loo during Lionel. We were stood just by the top disabled stand so got onto the top road pretty quick but it was at a stand still. There was a car parked in the middle people trying to get in and out of the field and people stopped to watch.

Im not great in huge crowds and everyone was pushing so ended up having a mild panic attack but luckily got helped to the fence where there was slightly more space and eventually got out.

I know it's hard to stop the Pyramid stage getting really busy but it was at dangerous levels again (like Dolly and Stones)....although I don't know what the solution is.

Anyway ended up watching from the bar which was much more preferable and he was excellent

[The Placid Casual]

I find it mad they allow williams green to function in the way it does on a thursday

A girl passed out during Drenge. She'd taken a fall in the crowd and a lot fell on top, including myself who'd got pushed on top by some nobhead.

 

Me and another lad helped get her out but I got blocked on my way. It was chaotic in there.

[neil999]

'legends' slot might need rethinking(like park special guests was..)

[kingcrawler]

I find it mad they allow williams green to function in the way it does on a thursday

 

We were at the barrier around the sound desk on the left hand side and it was fine until there was a massive surge about halfway through Drenge's set at which point things got slightly chaotic with a lot of pushing. Settled down after a couple of songs when moshpits started to open though.

[Mouseboy11]

It's the nightlife areas I find particularly bad, they're way too busy for the size of the stages. J.E.S.U.S and Fatboy Slim were awful

[Spindles]

As I've got older I've got worse and worse with crowd situations, so I avoid where and when I know it will be beyond what I can deal with and find something else to do.  There is always compression at choke points and most people know how to deal with this, but those who don't can make an uncomfortable situation a potentially hazardous one.  I feel for anyone who got into a state with some of the crowding this year.

 

Sadly, with the numbers as they are the only way to improve this is to have wider paths and that's just not something that seems likely to happen due to the natural landscape within which the festival exists. 

[Mr Splodge]

Some of the stage movement problems are down to people walking 4 abreast and taking the whole path up people going in the other direction have nowhere to go add in the people who barge through at pace.

Being disabled I found using crutches this year a nightmare with the amount of people barging through crowds and the 4 abreast brigade, very few, and I am saddened to say mostly lady's barging past kicking the crutches away as they pushed past this happened even in non busy situations. I ended up on the deck quite a few times because of this, thankfully i was helped by some nice people and lived to tell the tale.

[ThomThomDrum]

I'm not into banning things but id seriously consider a ban of large camping chairs at the main stage from certain points in the field They really do fuck things up for busy gigs especially witnessed by the last two years ledgend slot

Unlike a ban on seats in a tent I suspect this to be a lot harder to police

Edited June 30, 2015 by ThomThomDrum

[The Placid Casual]

I think a few signs advising people not to use camping chairs in crowded areas could help a little.

[WS_Jack_III]

It's the nightlife areas I find particularly bad, they're way too busy for the size of the stages. J.E.S.U.S and Fatboy Slim were awful

heard from my friends that both of these were pretty bad

[J.B.]

Being disabled I found using crutches this year a nightmare with the amount of people barging through crowds and the 4 abreast brigade, very few, and I am saddened to say mostly lady's barging past kicking the crutches away as they pushed past this happened even in non busy situations..

 

I had exactly this situation too, it seems to get a little worse each year.

 

I find it mad they allow williams green to function in the way it does on a thursday

 

This is the view from the disabled platform looking out of the back of the Williams Green tent waiting for Wolf Alice. It was impossible to leave to go to the toilet for several hours. We were pulling people out of the crowd who were overheated and unwell but couldn't escape. The Chief Steward was radioed and eventually security staff showed up to take over.

[Gregcharlie]

All the way between Pharell and Kanye in the front was just a tad crazy. So many people trying to just get as close to the stage as possible where there was absolutely no space and inevitably led to a few pushes and people having to be pulled out.
now it happens every year with that type of headliner which can attract a bit of a young laddish crowd but me and my mates saw a pretty big argument break out in that gap right near the front with neither of that stereotype. A couple of women pinching this, can't have been older than 14, boy's arse and flicking his hat whilst he was stood with his parents. Eventually he turned round really pissed off with them and as you can imagine the parents weren't best pleased either and it all turned a bit ugly. It's sad to see that the crushing is encouraging that kind of anti Glastonbury behaviour from some people.

[Rosscoe]

The crowd for fatboy slim was chaotic. It got a bit tight at one point. We got there in plenty of time but couldn't get close so decided to leave, but found it difficult with so many people intent on pushing their way into the crowds.

[eFestivals]

the organisers need to address what people like the OP do to cause the problems that the OP says the organisers need to sort.

 

It's always someone else's fault. First world problems!

[Ohinever]

I caused the problem by being part of a crowd. The problem goes away if the crowd is properly managed.

It is nobodies fault but the festivals Neil. I know people killed at Hillsborough, and I'm sorry to say that a "it will never happen" attitude was a big part of the problem there.

Fatal crowd crushes have been a part of big gatherings probably for ever, so why GFL don't do something about it I don't know.

And if a reasonable expectation of safety is a first world problem then guilty as charged!

Edited June 30, 2015 by mooro

[eFestivals]

I caused the problem by being part of a crowd. The problem goes away if the crowd is properly managed.

The problem goes away if people aren't dicks who think that just them has the right to use the path.

The crowd manages itself as long as people aren't dicks. If things get busy, hang back and there won't be a crowd in a minute or three.

 

It is nobodies fault but the festivals Neil.

bullshit.

The festival causes the crowd to be there. It's the crowd that causes the crowd to do what it does and not the festival.

 

I know people killed at Hillsborough, and I'm sorry to say that a "it will never happen" attitude was a big part of the problem there.

Fatal crowd crushes have been a part of big gatherings probably for ever, so why GFL don't do something about it I don't know.

And if a reasonable expectation of safety is a first world problem then guilty as charged!

there's never been injuries from crushes at Glasto - and compared to the past it's exceedingly tame nowadays. 30 years ago you couldn't walk thru a gateway, you were transported in the air via the crush - but always a very good tempered and helpful one.

And if you think GFL do nothing about crowd control, can I have some of what you're having? They take it exceedingly seriously - which is why things are improving, but you can never improve the self-important dickheads who think the crowd should part for just them.

Edited June 30, 2015 by eFestivals

[Ohinever]

Not quite sure why you are being so aggressive Neil, come down?

I did what I always do in these situations chilled and waited and as alluded to above helped those that weren't able to do so.

If that's me being a dick fine. The specific problem on that path is that some are trying to exit the pyramid whilst some are trying to get to the long drops. Nobody being a dick, nobody not being where they shouldn't but lack of crowd control pure and simple. And loads round me were genuinely scared.

Hopefully nothing serious ever happens at Glastonbury but not sure why you are so defensive over obvious areas that could be improved? The festival obviously do listen hence the trees at Pyramid/Mandela being cut down when that became a dangerous choke point.

Edited June 30, 2015 by mooro

[ImGonnaLive4eva]

I generally thought the crowd management was brilliant this year, I haven't been since 2010 and its definitely improved since then.

When everybody was exiting the stone circle after the fireworks there was a huge swell and bottleneck trying to get out. The security were on the ball and staggered the people leaving which helped a lot.

Regarding what Neil said, of course it is entirely down to the people whether they crush or not, it's not hard to walk carefully and slowly. Unfortunately there will always be dicks, so the crowd needs managing to prevent said dicks causing an incident.

[tumbles]

The only grumble I've had in past is they could manage the top walkway of the pyramid better. If it was properly fenced off it would stop people standing at the top of it and restricting the flow of people walking.  Maybe a one way system like the after hours areas would help as well. People fill in from the top and exit from the bottom with clear walkways down each sides.

[eFestivals]

Not quite sure why you are being so aggressive Neil, come down?

PMSL - it's aggresive to have a different opinion than you?

Perhaps what's really aggressive to put someone's differing opinion down in a way that suggests anyone who disagrees must have a person problem?

 

I did what I always do in these situations chilled and waited and as alluded to above helped those that weren't able to do so.

why weren't they able to wait? Was there an imminent death or something?

The simple fact is that it's impossible to get 50k+ people out of any field instantly, and no amount of crowd management can deal with making that better. Only the crowd themselves can change it.

If people want to put themselves into a crush, then who can they blame for being in a crush? In your world, someone else is responsible for what they've chosen to do.

 

If that's me being a dick fine. The specific problem on that path is that some are trying to exit the pyramid whilst some are trying to get to the long drops. Nobody being a dick, nobody not being where they shouldn't but lack of crowd control pure and simple. And loads round me were genuinely scared.

Outside of taking down all hedges and the crowd being willing to disperse in all directions rather than the directoin they want to go, the only solution is within the crowd themselves - by waiting.

 

There's nothing so urgent that anyone has to put themselves into a situation they don't want to be in.

 

Those people CHOSE to put themselves in that situation. If you go somewhere crowded, why be surprised at there being cropwds?

 

Hopefully nothing serious ever happens at Glastonbury but not sure why you are so defensive over obvious areas that could be improved? The festival obviously do listen hence the trees at Pyramid/Mandela being cut down when that became a dangerous choke point.

Yep, the festival do address things - as I said above, and as you originally suggested they don't.

 

But there's a limit to what is possible with the site, while there's no limit to what the crowd can chose to do themselves.

 

If you go somewhere that's crowded there'll be crowds.

 

Edited June 30, 2015 by eFestivals

[eFestivals]

The only grumble I've had in past is they could manage the top walkway of the pyramid better. If it was properly fenced off it would stop people standing at the top of it and restricting the flow of people walking.  Maybe a one way system like the after hours areas would help as well. People fill in from the top and exit from the bottom with clear walkways down each sides.

 

Oh c'mon .... just about any group of people will decide at sdome point to stand in the middle of any path aqnd restrict the flow.

 

Short of the festival taking control of everyone's brains so their brains have a bit of useful effect the festival cannot change that.

[tumbles]

Oh c'mon .... just about any group of people will decide at sdome point to stand in the middle of any path aqnd restrict the flow.

 

Short of the festival taking control of everyone's brains so their brains have a bit of useful effect the festival cannot change that.

 

It's only a suggestion.. and yes you are probably right that it can't be addreseed.  However the measures in place for the Stones did work well.