Why do we have concerts on George Street?
This is the question I never hear asked, when issues arise, concerning crowd control and safety at these concerts.
The City currently has a George Street re-development plan accumulating dust on some shelf or desk in City Hall. Part of this plan is to realign the street and move the location of the bandshell to provide better viewing and improve safety for concertgoers.
But is this necessary?
I assume the major reason for holding concerts on George Street is to attract patrons to the bars and improve revenues for bar owners. Can this aim be achieved in other ways?
Why not hold the concerts at Mile One? I'm sure the City would be willing to work with the George Street festival organisers and come to suitable financial arrangements for the hire of the facility.
After the concerts many of the concert attendees will wander down to George Street and patronise the bars.
The same aim (people in bars) achieved, but in a different and safer manner.
If this were to happen, the re-development plan for George Street could be reviewed and probable savings found.
Worth a discussion and debate isn't it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You raise some very valid points, and it is something that I really haven't thought about before.
That being said, I think a big reason that George Street Festival is so popular is that it is right on George St. The party atmosphere that you get on the biggest little street wouldn't be there if it was in Mile One.
The issue of safety is what really need to be addressed. A lot of people crammed into a small area is bound to lead to some safety issues. Mile One, however, is not really an alternative that will fix this problem, since the exact same thing would happen with a few hundred people standing on the floor of the stadium.
The ideal solution would be to increase the ability to control the crowd, I guess the only question is at what cost will that be.
Michael: Mile One can be set up so that there is plenty of room on the floor of the stadium for those who choose to watch a concert in this manner.
The use of Mile One would also open the concerts to those who are under legal drinking age as well as to people who do not go to George Street because of the "crush". I know what you are saying about the "party atmosphere" but this can be created after the concert. I'm sure many of the concertgoers would head to George Street and continue the party.
I'm trying to provoke a discussion and indicating that there are different ways to look at things!
Thanks for participating. Lionel
Post a Comment