RAIN, UMBRELLAS, CAMERAS AND YOUR SECURITY ! THE RULES !!!

Dear People, I've been reading with great interest some of the negative comments that some of you posted on various blogs & websites or sent to our e-mail address. The issues that have been raised, need - AGAIN, apparently - some answers from us, the organisers.

Happy to do so cause it looks like some of the measures taken (or not taken, in your opinion) by the organisers are being seen as a lack of foresight on our behalf. Nobody among the few angry bloggers/e-mailers seems to be looking for the real possible reason behind certain measures, so.... I'll explain.

1. Why can't we get in with umbrellas when it is clear it will rain?

UMBRELLAS are a potential danger for other people in the crowd; esspecialy when there is a BIG CROWD on a relatively small area (because WE MADE A MISTAKE YESTERDAY ALLOWING A NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN WITH UMBRELLAS (AGAINST OUR OWN RULES; SEE NEXT POINT) WE HAD 3 PEOPLE THAT HAD TO BE TAKEN TO OUR FIRST AID TENTS BECAUSE THEY GOT HIT (ACCIDENTILY) IN THEIR FACE BY THE TIP OF UMBRELLAS . LUCKILY , NOBODY GOT SERIOUSLY INJURED, BUT AT LEAST ONE PERSON GOT HIT IN THE EYE AND THIS COULD HAVE TURNED OUT A LOT MORE SERIOUS THAN IT DID IN THE END! THIS IS THE REASON WHY ON THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S MAJOR FESTIVALS (OR ANY OTHER OPEN AIR SHOWS) THE RULE IS 'NO UMBRELLAS' ! IT IS FOR YOUR SECURITY (unless of course, you think that it's better to risk ONE PERSON turning BLIND because of an umbrella, than X people getting wet).

Secondly , if you have paid for a ticket to see your favourite band or go to your favourite festival, THE LAST THING YOU WANT/DESERVE IS NOT TO SEE A THING , BECAUSE YOUR VIEW IS BLOCKED BY A SEA OF UMBRELLAS.

We have communicated AGAIN & AGAIN the 'NO UMBRELLAS'-rule and made a VERY VERY HEAVY SUGGESTION TO BRING A RAINCOAT IN CASE THERE IS A CHANCE OF RAIN !

MORE , WE CANNOT DO !

2. Why - if the RULE is 'NO UMBRELLAS' - a big number of people at Day Zero of B'Estfest DID HAVE an umbrella on the festival grounds?

Now THAT is a very good remark and criticism! It is clear that WE MADE A MISTAKE in this case! There were contributing and explainable factors that caused this mistake, but this does not excuse the fact that this should NOT have happened. The reasons why it happened - if anybody is interested - were following:

a. Early on - much earlier than we anticipated from the experience of the previous 2 years of B'Estfest - there was more than usual 'pressure on the gates' (=many people standing in line to get into the festival grounds). In order to make access go faster, the checks at the gates became less stringent than they should have and this way a number of people managed to get in with umbrellas.

b. When the rain realy started pouring , our people at ticket controle started feeling very sorry for all the people that did bring umbrellas and would have to leave them at the gate. Since at that stage it was also clear that a number of people already 'smuggled' in umbrellas anyway, security and gate control allowed these people with umbrellas in.

LET ME ASSURE YOU, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN ! THE RULE 'NO UMBRELLAS' STAYS INTACT (it's not because some drivers cross 'the red light' that the rule that you have to STOP in front of a red light is abandoned) AND WILL BE IMPLEMENTED WITH MORE VIGOUR TODAY AND ON ALL COMING B'ESTFEST DAYS!

3. Why does the organiser not sell any raincoats if rain is expected and there is a 'no umbrella's'-rule?



Sorry guys, but we ORGANISE CONCERTS! The sales of merchandise, food, drinks , etc... at our events is done by third parties (companies) that have these activities in their subject of activity as registred by the chamber of commerce. Why do you think no such company has thus far been interested to sell raincoats at our concerts? Probably because they do not want to take the risk to buy 10.000 ? 30.000 ? 70.000 ? raincoats to sell at outdoor events because if there is 'no rain' they will be left with high costs and a huge stock! Even in Holland - where it rains cats & dogs 75% of the summer period - you will NOT find a 'raincoat merchandising' stand.

Question : Why is it so difficult to bring/buy your own raincoat to an outdoor event if you think it might rain and you do not want to get wet? I don't get it..

More questions :

Do you expect the organiser of a football match to start selling raincoats if it rains at the match ? Do you expect the organisers of 'festivals on grass' (where the grass turns into a mudpool when it rains) to sell you 'rubber boots' ? Do you expect the guy who sells you a chair on the beach in Mamaia to also provide you with a raincoat if it starts raining ?

I am sure you'll come up with some answers to these questions yourselves.

4. Why did BGS (Security) close the gates at some stage?

The gates were at no point in time 'closed'. When the torential rain started, people - that had just passed the ticketing checkpoint - stayed under the checkpoint tent to be protected from the rain and this had as an effect that 'nobody could get through the gates anymore'. The jandarmerie and security therefor 'held up' the people who were still waiting to enter the ticketing checkpoint, in order not to cause any 'pushing' ; a 'pushing' that could have lead to chaos and thus major security problems. I can understand that some of you did not want to keep waiting in the rain for this security measure (!) to be lifted and went home. Dissapointed. Pissed off (at the rain , at the organisers, at life,...). Sorry, but YOUR security is higher on the priority list than the fact that you have to wait a little longer to get in ; even in torrential rain.

5. Cameras. Professional / Non-professional

Okay; another hot issue for some of you. It's acualy very simple. THE VAST MAJORITY OF (MAJOR) BANDS, ARTISTS, PERFORMERS , put in their contract with us (the organiser) that 'we have to do everything in our power to MAKE SURE that the audience has NO CAMERAS WHATSOEVER on them when they enter the concert area.

These contracts foresee in HUGE FINES for the organiser! NOW, in the day and age of small digital camera's and cellphones with inbuild camera's this STRICT ARTIST RULE is impossible to apply (we know, the artist's management knows).

So, IN ORDER TO TRY AND HELP THE AUDIENCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ON THE ONE HAND, BUT PROTECTING OURSELVES AGAINST HUGE CLAIMS ON THE OTHER HAND, our INTERPRETATION of this artist rule is that we 'ban professional cameras' , but allow 'non professional cameras'.

True, the security guys at the gate are NOT SPECIALISTS TO DETERMINE 'WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL AND WHAT NOT', but - in case of doubt - they are instructed to 'give the ticket buyer the benefit of the doubt'. So on the camera issue, we are always TRYING TO HELP YOU and we make an effort (and take a risk!) to 'interpret' the artists' rule in YOUR favour. Best we can do; believe it or not.

Keep rocking ! The B'Est is yet to come !

Guido

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