OFF: No Glasto 2001

[ANDREW GARIBALDI]

ah - you see that's what happens when you don't know the facts - I withdraw
my cynical comments and can but agree entirely with you.
Andy Garibaldi.
----- Original Message -----
From: "M Holmes" <fofp at HOLYROOD.ED.AC.UK>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 8:03 PM
Subject: Re: OFF: No Glasto 2001


> ANDREW GARIBALDI writes:
>
> > so all the other festival promotors will be clapping their hands with
glee -
> > unless of course the councils concerned  and police follow suit and
become
> > so overly 'concerned' that things disappear altogether..
>
> It's a fair call after Roskilde. I was at Glastonbury last year and there
> were various ways in which it could have been dangerous as a result of
> as many people gatecrashing as legitimate revellers. Obviously there
> were health dangers from overload of the sanitary and litter collection
> facilities. There were several times when overcrowding was hostage to a
> single incident causing a panic. Fences were knocked down with unconcern
> as to anyone who might be crushed on the other side. Most dangerous of
> all, tents were forced into a situation where they were 4 inches apart
> at best, with open fires well within risky distances from same. If
> you've ever seen a tent go up, it's impressive. It takes ahandful of
> seconds and anyone inside has sticky burning nylon (think napalm)
> falling onto them. Worse, any tent within a few feet (safe distance at
> legal campsites is 12 feet) may follow suit, with the probability of
> this happening higher with shorter distances. Unless someone is quick
> enough off the mark with closely packed tents (I.E rips enough of the
> nearby tents out of the ground to create a firebreak, you can easily
> have a wall of flame within a few minutes. If you run from that at
> Glastonbury when it's crowded, you'll come to a hdge, or worse, a 12
> foot high metal fence. And tents were often camped in roadways so a fire
> tender would be unlikely to arrive quickly. This in a situation where
> drunk and stonedpeople are negotiating a route in the dark through tents
> almost on top of each other, and often carrying flares or lettng off
> fireworks.
>
> The risk are there. The risks are real, and Glastonbury was very lucky
> not to see any of them turn sour. Eavis has made the only decision he
> could, as did the local Police and Council.
>
> I'm a great Glastonbury fan (I've been to 11 of them) but unless they can
> put a stop to those who only want to steal from the festival and who cause
> danger to others by their selfishness, then I agree that it'll have to
> stop. If the Staag Luft 13 model pioneered at the Ise of Wight can't do
> it (Eavis has a 25 foot interlinked fence planned for 2002) then sadly
> that'll be the end of it.
>
> That's my 89 quid's worth anyway...
>
> FoFP