Fight disrupts Festival concert Saturday
SANDPOINT — Two people have been banned from the Festival at Sandpoint after they "actively caused harm and aggression" during Saturday's concert.
"We sincerely apologize for the pushing and actions that occurred at the front of the crowd," Festival at Sandpoint officials said in the post. "Our hope of getting fan cooperation of holding a safe concert during a pandemic and asking people to respect the rules of dancing at their own blanket and not pushing forward, has simply not happened."
A number of fans on the post described some pushing forward and rushing toward the stage to dance during the Shakey Graves concert despite the Festival at Sandpoint asking fans to stay at their blankets. They described shoving and fighting, standing on other concertgoers' blankets, chairs and coolers and moving things out of their way.
"The last 2 nights at Festival were the worst concert experiences of my life," wrote one woman. "We spent the entire day in line to get a blanket spot in the center area where only short chairs are allowed. But security wouldn't stop people from rushing the stage before the headliner even started. Don't be duped into thinking your blanket is your personal concert space and don't foolishly believe that you'll actually be able to see the performance."
When discussing the return of live music, Festival at Sandpoint Executive Director Ali Baranski said it was apparent that after 18 months without live music, the "excitement and intensity of fan behavior is extremely high, both for the good and the bad."
Due to the pandemic, the Festival did not schedule any dance concerts, instead asking concert-goers to stay in their respective areas to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19.
"Our COVID-conscience plan of no dance concerts this summer is simply not feasible for crowd control for shows that in past years would have had a GA pit with access to walk up to the stage, like traditional concert venues," Baranski said.
Additionally, with the new artificial turf, the Festival was unable to paint aisles on the grass. Instead, it's used bike racks to distinguish those areas.
"The bike racks have added their own challenges in funneling our fans, creating more crowd control problems," Baranski said.
To prevent a reoccurrence, the Festival reconfigured the bike racks and increased and rearranged security.
It also changed the Young the Giant and REO Speedwagon shows to dance concerts for the overall safety of fans, security and staff. As a result, no blankets will be allowed in the front middle section and it will be standing-room only, with blanket seating on the sides, Festival officials said.
Festival said the incident marred what was otherwise a great opening weekend.
"It was amazing to celebrate and gather again with phenomenal musical talent in our little town," Baranski told the Daily Bee. "However, it has not been without its hiccups as we face the new challenges of artificial turf, pandemic considerations, and mobile ordering."
It is unclear if any charges resulted from the fracas.