Attending a concert, festival, or other events should be a time of excitement and fun. While most events are peaceful, sometimes problems occur that put you and your family at risk. Without adequate security at these events, problems such as fights, crowd surfing (when someone is passed overhead from person to person and transferred to a different spot in the audience), or discharged weapons can cause significant injuries.
Concert promoters and event organizers typically invest in concert insurance, a type of policy that helps cover these types of events, should someone suffer a significant injury and the concert organizer be found negligent. Our Texas negligent security attorney explains more.
What Role Does Security Have at a Concert or Festival?
Security is vital at events where large groups of people are present. Event organizers typically need to invest in security to minimize the risk of injury to the public.
Issues With Security
- Lack of adequate security personnel to cover one or more areas within the venue may result in reduced monitoring. Without proper oversight, pushing, stampeding, or fights may occur that become hard to control.
- Lack of security planning to address possible problems and how to continuously monitor conditions may put event-goers at risk.
- Lack of entrance supervision may allow dangerous weapons to be brought into the venue or alcohol and/or drugs.
When Security Is Inadequate
People who attend a concert or festival want to feel safe, and they usually attend with the belief that the venue is secure. However, when there isn't enough security, or those employed by the event organizer haven’t been properly trained, those attending the event are at risk of injury.
Possible Injuries at a Concert or Festival
- Lacerations and puncture wounds if knives are involved
- Traumatic brain injuries and/or spinal cord damage if someone is pushed from a great height
- Broken face bones, bruises, and/or contusions if a person is injured by people fighting
- Broken bones, sprains, head trauma, and suffocation if a crowd begins to rush from one area to the other
Who’s Responsible When a Fight Breaks Out?
It’s not easy to determine who’s responsible when a fight breaks out, there are crowd surges, or dangerous weapons are discharged and people get hurt. Many times, there are a number of people who are guilty of security negligence.
Potential Liable Parties
- Concert promoter and/or event organizer. These individuals may be responsible in situations where someone is injured due to the lack of security, not hiring enough security members, or not hiring any at all.
- Performers. In some cases, a performer at the concert or festival may be liable for injuries if their actions incite the crowd, which directly causes the injury to a person.
- Individual attendees. In some situations, the responsible party is the one who threw a punch, threw property, or started the fight. This could be a criminal matter, as well.
- Security company. It may be possible to prove the security company was responsible.