[UPDATE: Response from the Alderman's Office] My letter to Alderman Joe Moreno (1st Ward) re: Wicker Park Fest’s Safety & Security, 2012
Alderman Joe,
I went to Wicker Park Fest yesterday and, sadly, it was one of the worst street festival experiences of my life. I went there with my girlfriend to enjoy some food, some drinks, some music, and the wonderful weather.
However, our experience was ruined as the organization of the festival was a complete and utter mess. The first issue: it was hard to discern which stage was which. I understand that the “North” stage was the northernmost stage, and the “South” stage was the southernmost stage, but the overall layout made this slightly confusing, as the stages being on Milwaukee (a diagonal street) and vendors not being made aware of what stage they were positioned near (I asked a vendor at the “Melt” sandwich tent if they knew what stage they were in front of. They said, “North.” This was wrong. A craft vendor provided a different answer, and a beer vendor provided yet another answer.), this resulted in crowds of people pushing to get from one side of the Fest to the other, trying to see the band they wanted, hoping they were at the right stage.
Why the stages were not labeled and maps weren’t readily made available is beyond me.
Around 9:00pm, at the North stage, as the band Cursive was just beginning their set, things started to get dangerous. There were simply too many people in one area. What made this situation even worse and more dangerous was the fact that there was nary a security guard in sight and there was no easy way to exit the festival as (unlike other summer street fests I’ve been to), the sides weren’t blocked off and guarded against people standing there to watch the band. Generally, these areas are reserved for people entering and exiting the festival.
Just 2 songs into Cursive’s (one of my absolute favorite bands, by the way) set, my girlfriend and I decided that the situation was too dangerous to stay in, and we needed to get out. We made our way to the side, only to find that no one was moving. The vast majority of people along the sides were trying to exit, however, they were being blocked from moving forward toward the designated exits.
A girl was screaming for help, saying she was about to pass out; my girlfriend got pushed, luckily caught; and the crowd around us got more and more frustrated, deciding to take the situation into their own hands. “Fuck these people! We don’t know them! Push!” yelled a man behind us as he began moving us forward like an offensive lineman blocking for a running back.
This, sir, is how people get trampled to death.
Why wasn’t there any security present to stop this?
Why were there that many people allowed in at all?
I don’t know if anyone fell, if anyone got trampled, and I certainly hope that all avoided harm, but it could have gotten ugly.
Once we made our way to the exits, a new horror became visible: people were STILL being let in. Things were a chaotic mess inside, but a line of people was still being let in. Finally, we saw someone who appeared to be working security. One man said to him, “no, no, you can’t let anyone else in! It’s too crowded. It’s dangerous!” The security guard said, and I quote, “whatever.” I said, “Come on! Do your job, protect the crowd, someone is going to get hurt!” and he replied, “COME OOOOOOON!” in a voice mocking me.
I don’t need to be treated like that, Alderman. I was scared inside there. I don’t need to be mocked when I try to tell security that there is danger.
I lived in your ward for 3 years. I was a huge supporter of everything you’ve done: from the time you went out of your way to hire private snow plows in the winter for the ward to the ordinance you introduced earlier this year to protect members of the LGBT community from being unfairly searched and to be treated equally regardless of gender identity, to even your recent stance on the Chik-Fil-A in Logan Square. You’ve accomplished so many great things as the 1st ward alderman. But overseeing the safety and security of the 2012 Wicker Park Fest? You failed me on that, and I’m disappointed in you.
I’m sending this letter to your office, to the Bucktown/Wicker Park Chamber of Commerce, to various sponsors of this year’s WPF in hopes that they reconsider future sponsorship, to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Chicago Reader.
Attached is a photo demonstrating the crowd at roughly 9:10pm, as people were still being allowed in. Why, if outdoor festivals like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork have capacity limits, does a smaller street festival like this seemingly not?
UPDATE: RESPONSE FROM THE ALDERMAN’S OFFICE
On behalf of the Alderman, please accept our apologies for the unpleasant and dangerous experience that you documented.
Our office doesn’t arrange security for the festival. That it is the responsibility of the chamber of commerce and this year they used a new company to run the festival, including security.
We will be meeting with chamber and Police to debrief on the festival and on the top of the list of matters to be discussed will be security and capacity. These issues will not re-occur next year.
Thanks.
Regards,
Director of Legislative Affairs & Communications for 1st Ward Alderman, Proco Joe Moreno
We were there early in the afternoon, and I was thinking it looked like a pretty slipshod event. As the crowds gathered, I told the wife we needed to get home. We did, as the kid needed a nap, but I was thinking it was looking like it was going to be a nasty place in an hour or so. Glad we skeedaddled. Glad you got out safe too.
Really you have silver wrapper to thank for the mess. I wonder if the same “security” company they used is the very same terrible one The Congress uses.
Is that right “Shameful”? Silver Wrapper wasn’t part of this years event in any way shape or form you fucking goon. Do your homework before you open your uninformed ignorant mouth next time. And for the record, S3 has been the same security company for the past 7 years at WPF you clown!
really @shameful? really? you could not have your facts more wrong. I almost think that Mr. Molloy should remove your comment.
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I understand your frustration with the event, however, allow me to play devil’s advocate:
Maps to the event? Milwaukee runs NW to SE, the South Stage was obviously the stage closest to Paulina/Division, the North Stage closest to Damen, as Damen is NORTH of Division.
Band times and stages were marked clearly at every beer tent, and many of the vendors had the same info posted (at least they did when I went looking.)
I was surprised at the lack of security and/or use of barriers to create exit lanes at the stages, however, I felt this was the same as ANY fest in the area. West Fest had the same problem for the Black Lips/Flosstradamus. They definitely needed more barriers, however THERE WERE MULTIPLE EXITS. Two at Wood. One on Evergreen. One on Honore. I gladly made the walk to these exits after 5pm as the stage exits were too much of a hassle.
In fact, I thought this event was MUCH SAFER considering last years event had roughly the same amount of people, yet was half the size!
I’m not saying you don’t have a point, (you do,) however, most of your complaints could have been easily solved were you to just explore other options/routes.
To noiseboy’s points (and I know, you’re just playing devil’s advocate):
* As I said in the letter, I realize the North stage was the northernmost stage and the South stage was the southernmost stage, but barring a label of some sort on the stage (there was none) stating which stage you were at, unless you were familiar with the area, it would be easy to get mixed up (as again, I said, there were crowds of people going back and forth trying to figure out where they were at, so obviously I wasn’t the only one confused).
* I never said anything about there not being a list of what bands were playing at which stage. It was a matter of finding the right stage. Also, as the day went on, times were not even close to their schedule.
* Yes, if you were in the middle of the festival and wanted to leave, certainly, you could exit that way. However, what if you were in the crowd and then decided you needed to leave? Moving backwards through the crowd of people pushing forward was not an option. The side exits were completely blocked off. Completely. Com-plete-ly. If I had the ability to go back and leave on Wood, I would have gladly done so. Unfortunately, as outlined in my letter, there was a crowd of people behind me determined to exit out the side pushing forward.
I appreciate that you pointed out these items, and I don’t know that I should necessarily feel comforted that you felt this was actually safer than previous years, but these street festivals need a security overhaul/capacity limit. It’s only a matter of time before something tragic happens and someone gets trampled to death.
Additionally, if you read an account of the store owner who was robbed by a flash mob, he had locked the thieves inside his store using the security gate and was outside yelling for police and/or security, but was unable to find ANYONE to help for minutes. They eventually pushed their way out. If there was even a modest amount of security on hand (or police presence), shouldn’t someone have heard him?
Obviously a lot of hostile/angry people here. The main point was that it was over-crowded AND not well planned. Fests like Retro on Rosco, Old Town Art Fair and/or Taste of Lincoln Ave are extremely well-run even with extremely large crowds.
However, they are also attended by a more mature crowd which tends to drink a little less and that makes a huge difference in behavior of a large crowd despite being over-crowded, which the above-named fests often are too.
I think it does have everything to do with planning and security. I hope the fest organizers look at this blog and figure out how to manage it better so that next year a tradegy doesn’t occur. I’m sure it is a difficult task for them given the amount of people who attend the fest.