The Internet was broken in the spring of 2017 by the public spectacle surrounding the now-infamous Fyre Festival.
Since then, films, as well as dozens of articles, have told the story of a festival that was hyped to the hilt but never took place.
Billy McFarland, the main event promoter and fraudster, sold thousands of youths around the world the dream of an exclusive Caribbean island that never existed.
What if I said that you could also find yourself in Canada at the next Fyre Festival? Attending an event could put your safety at risk, even if you don’t know that you bought a ticket.
Festivals and Risk Management
Live events are social constructions in which attendees give meaning to their experience. Although these events come with inherent risks, it’s not the responsibility of the public.
Most event organizers do have the best interests of their clients in mind. However, just like most businesses, they often work on a limited budget and cut corners, which can lead to disastrous outcomes.
In the last few decades, we have seen how dangerous events can be if proper risk management is not implemented.
In 2010, at the Love Parade festival in Germany, 21 people died after being crushed by the crowd, and over 500 others were injured. The organizers were accused of negligence for failing to understand and control the crowd dynamics.
A suicide bomber from an Islamic extremist group killed 23 people in Manchester and injured 1,017 others at a concert by Ariana Grande. A public inquiry revealed the arena management was complacent in implementing security risk management recommendations.
The scene at Manchester Arena was investigated by forensic officers the day following the suicide bombing that killed 23 people during an Ariana Grande concert. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
In November 2021, dozens of people were injured, and ten died in crowd crush injuries at Astroworld Festival. Like the Love Parade, the organizers did not account for crowd dynamics when they created a concert area that made attendees vulnerable to being crushed.
In the past few weeks, Canada has experienced its share of mishaps during live events. Montreal’s Pride Parade was canceled at the last minute due to a simple oversight. The event did not have any security. Both the Kingston Music Festival in Ontario and Kultureland have been marred by disorganization, non-shows of scheduled performers, and false representations of a VIP Experience.
The Kingston Music Festival was disrupted by a crowd that smashed the fence, and Kultureland organizers moved the venue just two hours before the doors opened.
Lack of professionalism, regulation
Let’s start with the first issue: a lack of professionalism. There is no equivalent regulatory body for event planners, unlike lawyers, doctors, and engineers, who can impose sanctions on their members if they commit a mistake.
Some organizations are dedicated to specific types of events, such as the International Live Events Association and Meeting Planners International. However, they are voluntary. You are not required to join to host a public event.
Unfortunately, convicted criminals such as McFarland, who are looking to scam potential sponsors and attendees, could organize an event tomorrow in Canada. Nobody is doing background checks to approve events.
This is a trailer for Netflix’s The Greatest Party That Never Happened
The second problem is the lack of regulation for events. My doctoral dissertation examined the lack of a security risk management framework in the Canadian live event industry.
I compared the framework for national security between Canada and Australia when it comes to hosting public events. Surprisingly, Australia had stronger regulations for its live event industry than Canada, even though Canada is more violent with guns, has less anti-terrorism capability, and has weaker laws on national security.
In large Australian cities, organizers were required to submit their applications six months in advance of the event. In Canada, it was less than four months on average. This suggests that less diligence is being done to examine risks.
The Australian authorities tend to emphasize risk management in their event applications (like proactive measures), while the Canadian application stresses emergency management requirements. New South Wales, Australia, has taken the additional step of requiring licensing for “high-risk” music festivals.
The unprofessional McFarland will not stop organizing fraud, and neither will Canadian cities be increasing regulations in the near future. Do your due diligence, and do not be a fool who attends the next Fyre festival.