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LA County sets up task force to review safety at EDM events
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 3 September 2015
The Los Angeles County Board Of Supervisors has formed an Electronic Music Task Force to “provide recommendations on ways to make electronic music festivals safer for attendees”. Though, it has to be said that many of the measures usually proposed by groups like this were already in place at the event that has motivated the task force.
As previously reported, two teenagers died at the Live Nation promoted Hard Summer festival last month, and both deaths were seemingly drugs related. Dozens more festival-goers reportedly required hospital treatment.
Similar incidents have happened at music festivals before, of course, though this has garnered more attention, partly because drugs-related incidents at dance music events have been headline news in the US since the EDM boom there, but more so because Hard Summer was being hosted at a site owned by the LA County – Fairplex – the long-term home of the LA County Fair.
As also previously reported, with the LA County considering a ban on EDM events at any venue it owns, Live Nation decided to cancel one dance music night it was due to stage at Fairplex this month, and to cut back the capacity of another scheduled for Halloween.
The motion put forward to propose the new task force states that a ban on EDM events at LA Country owned facilities is still “a possibility”, though First Amendment issues around such a ban will be considered first, as well as what health and safety measures could counter concerns.
One of the people behind the new task force set to review dance music events in the region is LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who said in a statement: “I want to emphasise that our efforts around this motion, above all, are about the health and safety of those attending these events”.
