Adequate safety measures in place at Rage festivals, say organisers
Rage Festival Group executive Greg Walsh says safety and security measures have been put in place for the event, being a shared responsibility between the event organisers and police.
The annual 8-day long event is taking place in Ballito in KwaZulu Natal and Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape from last week Friday until Friday this week.
Every year, thousands of school leavers descend on the coastal towns for the week-long music festival.
Walsh says the group consists of a team that assesses all the possible risks on each day of the event and then works to mitigate all the risks.
"In the case of the Rage festival, it is considered a medium-risk festival. What medium risk means is that the event is a shared responsibility between the organisers and the South African Police Service, so we set up a joint committee and office at the festival site.
“It is staffed by both the local SAPS, disaster management officials from the local town, fire services, paramedics, our health and safety staff from the G&G Productions, as well as safety consultants from Alive and Safety."
Walsh adds that each event is unique.
“That is why we work with the local authorities. We pride ourselves in understanding our audience, we serve our audience, and we want to understand the difference between the millennials and the Gen-Z, the way they behave, what they expect, and what sort of entertainment are they looking for.
“What we find is that when you keep the entertainment level extremely high and well-targeted towards the audience that you are trying to organise an event for, then the job of looking after safety and security and medical becomes so much easier."
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