Music Festival Planning and the Police.

Any gathering of large numbers of people is always a concern to local police whose primary concerns are potential safety, criminal activity and local disruption. Most police forces have someone responsible for co-ordinating events with festival organisers along with processes and procedures for notification and approval to proceed.

Music festival organisers should involve local police as early as possible in the planning process to ensure close collaboration which should prevent any last-minute cancellations or other operational issues. Although most event licences are approved and issued by local authorities, they work closely with emergency services when considering applications. Organisers should never rely on just the licence application alone and it would be prudent to also notify the local police at the earliest opportunity.

Notification Procedures. 
For festivals planned to take place in the UK there is a legal requirement to notify the local police, this can vary from country to country. The UK police have a useful online form to make submissions which will include dates, location and other specific event details including the estimated number of people. Once submitted a responsible person from the police will be assigned to co-ordinate activities related to the planned festival.

Factors Considered by the Police. 
The primary concern for the police is the safety of anyone taking part or associated with the festival as well as others who may be affected by it including local residents. Other considerations are avoidance of damage to property or disruption in the local community. Public safety is the responsibility of the festival organisers and not the police. Organisers who fail to give the police advance notice of the date, time and venue of a festival may be committing a criminal offence. The same conditions apply to changes made in the planning process or failure to comply with any restrictions set by the police. Another key factor when coordinating with local police is the provisions that are planned for travel to and from the venue along with considerations for potential disruption to local transport infrastructure.

Police Involvement at Festivals.
The police officers present at a festival will prioritise public safety they will take action if there is any violence or disorder usually intervening to prevent any escalation and making arrests if necessary. In addition, it is not unusual for local police to film events and festivals which they use to gather intelligence about any possible criminal activity and as training aids for improved policing at future events.

Resource Planning. 
The police will use the event notification process to help plan their policing and resourcing requirements for upcoming festivals. It is essential that organisers work closely with the police to ensure that traffic management is well planned and that sufficient numbers of police officers will be on-site to handle any potential problems or issues.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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