Amsterdam festival organizers are extra alert after the deadly stabbing incident during the Solid Grooves festival last Saturday. But according to several organizers, the fact that last weekend went wrong does not mean that violent incidents will occur more often or that security on festival grounds is not properly arranged. “I see it as an incident and not as something we can expect more often,” says Willem Westerman of the Association of Event Makers (VVEM) AT5.
In addition to being shocked, many of the organizers are especially surprised at how the stabbing incident at Solid Grooves, in which the 21 year old Jimmy Schepers died could happen. This is evident from the tour of AT5 along various Amsterdam festival organizers.
“We were shocked when we heard it. We have been running here for some time without any problems,” says Tim Vermeulen, director of the NDSM-Werf. “We are now working extra with the security policy.”
Jasper Jorissen, organizer and spokesperson for Thuishaven, was also shocked by the news. “We are shocked, terrible. Solid Grooves was of course at a new location last Sunday. But you cannot prevent such an incident; it is bad luck after bad luck.”
‘Must remain an incident’
Timo Lassche, organizer of events under various labels, including ADE, is clear: ‘This must remain an incident’. “First of all, I think organizers should take their responsibility in terms of safety anyway. But let’s hope that the incident at Solid Grooves is an incident, it should remain that way.”
Lassche himself has a lot of experience in the festival industry and worked with Solid Grooves on Ibiza. He is aware of the risks during a festival, but at the same time states that there are strict rules regarding the use of security guards and checking at the entrance. “You look at the profile of visitors. These are events that we have been doing for years and it is important that you know the visitors well: behavior, and therefore the risk.”
“As an organization you have to ask yourself whether it can turn into an aggressive party”
According to Lassche, profiling per risk group is a way of tightening up measures. “This means that you make a profile of your visitors. As an organization you have to ask yourself whether it can turn into an aggressive party. You can say quite a lot about that; with a new event you put it at a high risk,” explains he out.
In addition, according to Lassche, there is a shared responsibility in this case for the recent stabbing and its outcome; namely from both the festival organization and the municipality. “The municipality issues a permit, only if a safety plan has been made. In a sense, they are therefore responsible for that plan and therefore the safety at a festival.”
Risk profile
According to Jorissen, making a risk profile is ‘absolutely not done’. “We don’t make a risk profile, I don’t think that’s even allowed.” According to him, there is never a fight at Thuishaven with good security and searches. “We have a lot of permanent control and visitors; there is a friendly atmosphere.”
Willem Westerman of VVEM, the branch organization that organizes events in their entirety, including safety, emphasizes that it is important that ‘we see last Sunday as an incident’. “We regret it and do not condone it for anyone. At the same time, we cannot prevent people from fighting with each other.”
“You can only do very limited things against carrying weapons”
According to Westerman, the ‘constant mix’ of measures taken at a festival depends on ‘the existing circumstances’. “We take risks very seriously, we can never score 100 percent, even with all the staff you have.”
Westerman is clear about one thing: you cannot rule out fighting. “If people want to fight, we are against it. We will try to stop it. But there are very few things you can do against taking weapons.” He explains, for example, that more or less security measures are taken depending on the event. “But we don’t want to see everyone as a potential suspect.”
Safety on one
With a view to events that are planned soon, the question is how organizers respond to the security protocol and whether they have been given an extra wake-up call. Amsterdam Open Air is scheduled to be one of the first festivals in the city this coming weekend.
A spokesperson for entertainment company ID&T says that during this festival visitors can count on ‘safety measures being given full attention’. “We invest a lot of time and energy in safety measures as standard. As every year, we check all those measures again with the parties involved and where necessary we can fine-tune the safety procedures. That is a continuous process.”
With a view to safety, ID&T makes no statements about the safety procedures. They do emphasize that ‘the well-being and safety of their visitors are always number one’.
The Amsterdam Events Association (EVA) indicates to AT5 that it does not want to respond to the incident on Solid Grooves. MOJO also indicates that it will not comment on the incident. “We have a policy here: we do not comment on other incidents at other festivals,” the organization explains.
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