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Electronic music festivals return to Buenos Aires, after ban lifted
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 22 February 2017
The first electronic music festival for almost a year took place in Buenos Aires over the weekend. Such events were banned last year following five drug-related deaths at the city’s Time Warp festival in April. The ban almost put a stop to a standalone Kraftwerk concert in November, so strictly was it enforced.
According to Infobae, Israeli DJ Guy J headlined an 8000 capacity show in the city’s Mandarin Park on Saturday, the first such event since the ban was lifted late last month.
Finally agreeing to permit dance music shows again, the City Of Buenos Aires legislature did so by passing new legislation to regulate them. Although the deaths at Time Warp were largely attributed to drugs, overcrowding, plus a lack of water and medical assistance were also blamed.
New rules include regulation on the number of people allowed to attend per square metre, provision of free water, provision and signposting of medical services, and more.
There are also provisions for stronger security and police presences on site, with around 40 plain clothes officers in attendance at the weekend, according to Infobae, all aiming to prevent drug use. Although with one estimate claiming that around 80% of adults at the event had taken some form of illegal drug, it’s not really clear what effect that had.
In its report, Infobae questioned whether people were actually aware that free water was available, noting that many still paid for bottled water at bars. It also suggests that security searches on the door weren’t up to much. Although in general the event seems to have gone well and passed without major incident.
“It’s all a question of dose and quality”, one Red Cross volunteer told Infobae (via The Bubble) about drug use on site, perhaps unhelpfully. “In the VIP area we never have to attend people feeling ill. It’s like everything else, if you can buy the best there runs less risk”.
