Festival fun
Every summer, hundreds of thousands of people flock to music festivals across the country to see headlining acts, be with friends and have fun in the sun (or mud!).
While most festival goers will undoubtedly appreciate the work involved behind the scenes to make sure sound systems are working, portaloos are in place and celebrity riders are given, they can be forgiven for not realising the role of local public health teams in ensuring events run smoothly.
We talked to the Directors of Public Health (DsPH) in the regions of some of the UK’s most popular festivals to get a sense of what’s involved, and it was clear that while different festivals attract different audiences, the work to ensure public health is both considered in planning, and protected throughout is incredibly similar…
Trudi Grant, DPH for Somerset, home to Glastonbury’s 200,000 festival goers, explained:
“DsPH have a statutory duty to assure there are robust and tested planning, systems and processes in place for the protection of the health of the population in their area – and that includes visitors to events in the area. For festivals like Glastonbury, that means supporting health and wellbeing for festival goers and staff during, and travelling to and from, the festival; ensuring specific planning arrangements are in place relating to threats to public health like synthetic opioids, circulating infection, or strike action; and minimising risks of mass events.
“All this obviously has an impact on our capacity throughout the year, as well as for the week of the festival but we have developed a close working relationship with the festival organisers and Festival Medical Services over many years and also work in partnership with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) – it’s a real joint effort.”
Ifeoma Onyia, DPH for Halton Borough Council, added:
“Learning from previous years is really important. With Creamfields, there is an influx of around 280,000 over the course of the festival – that inevitably has a big impact on the local community in terms of noise, traffic and access to amenities. In the run up to the event each year, I attend a tabletop exercise, alongside representatives from across the whole council. Together with the organisers, we troubleshoot existing plans and incorporate lessons learned from last year to make sure community safety is maintained, and to put in place measures to keep festival goers safe and well.
“For example, we have seen that people with preexisting diabetes seem to be more vulnerable so we have worked hard with organisers around supporting people to be prepared, as well as to ensure that teams on the ground know to check blood sugars.”
Matthew Pearce, DPH for Reading Borough Council, oversees the public health response for Reading Festival, which last year saw 210,000 attendees.
“As with any public event, the public health team are part of the local Safety Advisory Group, which is attended by a number of Council service providers, including the Events Team, Health and Safety and Emergency Planning, along with external services like the Police and Fire service, and NHS Providers.
“Through this group, we provide advice to the festival organisers. For us in public health, that means giving advice on a range of things from how to avoid food poisoning, or planning for infectious diseases, to ensuring that naloxone [treatment for opioid overdose] is available.”
Helen Atkinson, DPH for Portsmouth City Council, who is on call over the Victorious Festival weekend in case any public health action or advice is needed, explained the extra measures needed during the pandemic:
“During Covid, we operated two small testing sites at the event site and gave guidance on infection, prevention and control. Over the three days we carried out around 1500 Lateral Flow Tests on staff and festival goers to reduce the risk of the festival causing a Covid-19 outbreak.”
Victoria Eaton, DPH for Leeds City Council, added:
“While measures for managing the spread of Covid-19 are no longer as much of a consideration, there are a wide range of other health protection issues we advise on. For example, the importance of good hygiene, such as hand washing, and sharing messages about heat, hydration, vaccination, and sexual health.
“We also do a lot of partnership work with the festival organisers and local community groups in the run up to, and during, the event, to promote good health and wellbeing.”
For example, the Reading and Leeds Festival Advice and Campaigns Team (FACT – a partnership between Leeds City Council, Forward Leeds, Reading Borough Council, Change Grow Live for Reading and Festival Republic) has developed a drug, alcohol and wider health, wellbeing and safety campaign which is broadcast on the stage screens between all acts at both Reading and Leeds festival. The campaign’s engaging animations are also on the Festival App, social media channels and website with the hashtag #LookOutForEachOther added to information points and staff clothing, as well as on waterproof phone pouches and temporary tattoos.
Dan Burn, Health Improvement Principal at Leeds City Council, who works with Victoria, and chairs FACT, said:
“The campaign has received really positive feedback, with festival goers saying that since the campaign began, people are looking out for and helping each other more compared to previous years.”
Public health teams also work closely with local authority licencing teams to try and prevent sponsorship for the event from companies promoting health-harming products. For example, in Leeds, the public health team provide recommendations for the sale and promotion of nicotine containing products at the festival.
In addition to advice leading up to the event, for some festivals, public health teams provide on the ground support to promote the benefits of stopping smoking and to test any confiscated drugs. Staff are also on hand to distribute condoms and promote safe sex messaging. They also support the delivery of campaigns including Ask for Angela that provides help for anyone feeling vulnerable on a night out, as well as supporting local organisations who often have information points in the main arena to provide festival goers with advice and support on health and wellbeing.
With the number and popularity of festivals increasing every year, the ramifications for public health teams are considerable, and more and more areas are working to learn from each other’s experiences and improve planning and response to ensure that festival goers can enjoy their time safely. For example, Reading Borough Council’s Public Health team are currently developing a toolkit for festival organisers, focusing on key areas to consider.
So, next time you pack up your tent and head to a festival, remember that, although largely unseen, whatever and wherever the event, Directors of Public Health and their teams will be working hard to ensure that you have the best possible time.