Festival organizers review evacuation procedures after thunderstorm cancels show
The production director of the Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) stands by the festival's decision to evacuate the Plains of Abraham after a thunderstorm rolled in, interrupting the headlining performance.
But that evacuation could have been handled better, Patrick Martin told Radio-Canada on Monday.
Martin said he now wants to improve the way news is delivered during such an event.
The main issue, he said, is that front-line employees were not well-trained in handling the evacuation. While organizers are aware of how to handle such an incident, it's those on the ground that need to be better informed, he said.
"Security guards, for example, were not informed of our procedures," Martin told Radio-Canada. "This is something that we will improve to facilitate and accelerate an evacuation."
The mix of high winds and temporary staging, lights and other infrastructure has been scrutinized by engineers, he said.
Limits have been set when it comes to how much wind is too much. The festival has a policy of cancelling shows if wind speeds exceed 85 km/h. In a statement, organizers say wind was blowing at 90 km/h Saturday night.
"If the winds are too strong, there may be collapse hazards or material that is blown by the wind and hits a spectator, so we do not take a chance beyond that limit," said Martin, noting many children were on the site.
"We preferred to evacuate rather than take a chance to have a casualty."
Imagine Dragons wanted to go on stage despite the likelihood of a cancellation, he said.
The group played its popular song, Believer, earlier than planned, to ensure the audience got a chance to hear it live. However, the group only managed to play two songs before its lead singer, Dan Reynolds, announced the show was over.
"He absolutely wanted to perform," said Martin. "He preferred to go, so he was told to go ahead."
One man was injured during the evacuation, impaling himself on a fence. His injuries were not life-threatening.
The last time a show was cancelled at the festival due to weather was the Foo Fighters in 2015.
Some bands and musicians did get a chance to perform before the festival was brought to a screeching halt. Among them was British musician Bishop Briggs and the band Kongos.
Just 25 minutes before Imagine Dragons took the stage, festival organizers told the thousands of music lovers in the audience to prepare to leave the show early.
