A kamikaze and life-threatening action. This is how Intents director Toine van de Ven calls the climbing action of a visitor during the festival in Oisterwijk. The man climbed meters up into the Dynamite tent on Sunday without a climbing harness, did a few pull-ups at the top and then climbed back down. His action was filmed and went viral on social media.
“Someone thought it was funny to climb a pole, but we didn’t think it was that funny,” says Van de Ven. “We would have preferred to see another video that had gone viral. Unfortunately, this video was the most viewed.”
To prevent visitors from climbing the pillars, anti-climb protection was installed up to a height of six meters. That is a plastic shield that should make climbing impossible. The man managed to avoid it.
According to Van de Ven, the man was “quite athletic”. Due to the large crowd in the tent, the pillars were damp with sweat. “Life-threatening. It endangered himself and others.”
Access ban
There were crush barriers around the pillars. As a result, the man would probably not have fallen into the audience if he fell. Yet the consequences could have been enormous. “If he had fallen, he would have been dead. Then it would be the end of the festival.” In that case, all 45,000 visitors would have had to go home that day.
The man was met downstairs by security guards and removed from the premises. He was banned from entering for three years. “That is what is within our capabilities,” explains the festival director. “We are not a justice department, but we can do this through our house rules. They clearly state that we do not accept this.”
‘Ultradom’
Van de Ven spoke to the Dutchman personally about half an hour later. “He quickly realized that what he did was not very useful and that it was even life-threatening. It was ultra-stupid and he thought so too. He said: ‘I should never have done this’.” The director adds: “I hope it was a good lesson for him and that others also understand that this doesn’t work.”
Because according to Van de Ven, these types of climbing actions are more common at festivals. “People seem to find this very funny.” He wants to work with the trade organization Front of House to see how such climbing incidents can be tackled. “This is certainly one of the things we need to put on the agenda and see if we can create some kind of blacklist.”
Despite the incident, Van de Ven looks back on the festival weekend with satisfaction. “Apart from this kamikaze action, we hardly had any problems, so it really was a great weekend.”