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Benn discusses festival flag ban
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 26 August 2009
As previously reported, idiots will be disappointed at this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals because they won’t be allowed to wave their stupid flags. Festival boss Melvin Benn has been discussing the decision to ban flags from this year’s festival, and said that he is trying to convince Michael Eavis to do the same at Glastonbury, where Benn is Operations Director.
Benn said that the wall of flags blocking the view of the Pyramid stage at this year’s Glastonbury was “a nightmare”. He told the BBC: “You couldn’t see the acts. The flags were everywhere. There have always been flags but not to the level that there has been [recently]. And the flags have become very long and tall. The people behind them – not immediately behind them, but 20 or 30 rows behind them – can’t see. I’m doing everything I can to ban flags this year. For some reason those that buy a flag want to be closest to the stage”.
So, anyone trying to carrying a flag into the main arena will have it confiscated at the gate. However, Tony Withers, who runs a flag stall at various festivals, said: “To many people, it makes the event. People use them as a tent marker and then, as the show goes on, they lift them off the ground and take them to the stage. They want to get on TV – that’s the big thing now”.
If you need to carry a flag around to enjoy yourself, you shouldn’t be allowed outside. And what’s so great about holding something so big that it’s unavoidable for TV cameras? I don’t think confiscating the flags is enough. Anyone found trying to get a flag into the Reading and Leeds arenas should have the flag tied over their eyes until it’s time to go home.
The other thing frowned upon at Reading and Leeds this year is crowd surfing, which is less good. Rather than the usual system of security sending crowd surfers back into the audience when they get to the front, this year they will be escorted out of the arena and forced to queue up to get back in.
Benn said: “Reading Borough Council Health & Safety team consider it quite dangerous and we will endeavour to try and limit the amount of times people will do it. They won’t be ejected from the festival but they’ll be ejected from the arena. What that will result in is probably around a 20-minute delay before they get back into the arena. It will certainly delay their ability to get back in to watch the band”.
