Into the moshpits and on the dancefloor this summer

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of many summer music festivals over the past two years, there is a sense that young people – and some older ones too – can’t wait to get back into the moshpits and onto the dancefloor.

But after COVID-19 forced many managers and experienced hands out of the hospitality and entertainment industries in search of more stable employment, the festival landscape is very different today than it was pre-pandemic.

Dr Phillip Wadds from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has spent the past decade researching issues of public safety related to Australian nightlife and music festivals.

The senior lecturer in criminology in the Faculty of Law and Justice is concerned several factors were combining to heighten the risk of harms to young revellers this summer.

“There is real concern where you have a group of young people going to their first major events after being contained for a really long time, and then you’ve got everyone else who haven’t really experienced a full festival season in years,” he said.

“On top of this, the sector has faced major issues relating to their staffing – with many experienced staff and managers leaving the industry during the COVID years, taking a whole lot of professional and life experience with them. Post-pandemic, staffing hasn’t returned to anywhere near the number that the sector needs.”

Dr Wadds said in light of this, extra care needed to be taken by not only staff but also festivalgoers to ensure a smooth and safe return to music festivals that we may have once taken for granted.

“The reality is that we need everyone at a festival event to be part of improving safety and reducing harm – from patrons, staff, security and those working in medical and support roles.

“We need staff to know what to do if and when something is reported to them, we need security to know what to look out for and to intervene early and pro-socially, and we need patrons to look out for one another.”

For his part, Dr Wadds will be going to several of the coming summer festivals as part of his research into the effectiveness of harm reduction training at festival events.

“We know that staff working at these events play a critical role in the experiences people have while there, and so we want to make sure they are trained in best-practice approaches to harm reduction to make sure festivals are as harm-free as they can be.”

In previous research into music festival safety prior to COVID, Dr Wadds noted many festival events had become more concentrated periods of excess in response to the sky-rocketing price of alcohol in pubs and clubs and the imposition of restrictive changes to laws governing nightlife.

“Hyper-regulation of nightlife has seen a lot more people seeking the kind of pleasure and release that may previously have been found in traditional forms of nightlife. In our research, participants reported saving up all year and really going really hard at festivals in ways that can make them more conducive to harm.”

This, together with the concerns about a new cohort of young adults about to go to their first major events, has contributed to a heightened sense of anxiety about the coming festival season, and a real need to ensure those staff working events know what to do if things go wrong.

The dangers Dr Wadds is concerned about include harms relating to drug or alcohol intoxication, sexual assault, and injuries and health problems caused by dehydration and surging crowds. Dr Wadds observed these different types of harms often went hand in hand.

“While most people who attend events have a great time free from issues, unfortunately festival events can be, and often are, the site of significant harms, including those relating to excess drinking and drug use and sexual assault,” he said.

“There are a number of environmental factors that can shape those experiences including the high prevalence of intoxication, poor natural surveillance and low lighting, large crowds, but also the adversarial nature of policing which means that people don’t want to report issues. This leaves the culture unchecked in a way that can facilitate more significant harms.”

Dr Wadds said there was a lot of material out there to help staff and festivalgoers navigate their festival experience and help everyone to have a great time without harm.

For anyone intending to go to any of the various music festivals this summer, Dr Wadds recommends taking the Party Safe quiz at partysafe.com.au, put together by the Australian Festival Association, which not only tests your knowledge about best practice harm reduction but also gives sensible advice.