The Ever-Expanding List of Banned Items for Music Festivals.

Every festival-goer is used to complying with organisers who prohibit a variety of items from being brought onto a festvial site. This is for a variety of reasons including safety, security. legal and commercial. Are these lists of banned items getting more and more comprehensive now and, in the future?

Traditionally festival organisers will issue a list of prohibited items that cannot be brought onto a festival site, and these are mostly obvious and make perfect sense to festival-goers. However, with an increase in security concerns combined with sustainability compliance organisers seem to be expanding their lists of banned items. Added to this are commercial concerns which prevent festival-goers bringing anything onto the site that can be purchased from an on-site vendor. 

Traditional Standard Banned Items. 
These are the standard items that are always banned and make perfect sense to all concerned. Illegal substances and weapons are obvious but other items considered dangerous may include fireworks, glass containers and aerosol cans. Other commonly banned items include drones and professional recording equipment plus outside food and beverages. There may also be restrictions on the size of bags and backpacks being brought on-site. 

Security. 
With the increasing threat from international terrorism security measures are being increased anywhere that large crowds gather and music festival sites are a good example of this. Festival-goers can expect to experience more rigorous security screening at entrance gates including metal detectors, sniffer dogs and personal body searches (pat downs). In additional expect to see more restrictions on bags with size limits and in extreme cases complete bans or the requirement for bags to be transparent. 

Safety. 
For the safety of festival-goers items that are considered fire hazards may be prohibited and can include aerosol products and some sunscreens. Other items that could impact on crowd safety may include laser pointers, large inflatable toys and even some large flags.

Environmental Impact. 
Meeting their sustainable credentials has resulted in many festival organisers including more items on their banned lists for environmental reasons. This is likely to include disposable water bottles and any single use plastics and even personal items like soap, shampoo or any other type of detergent. 

Personal Items. 
Expect more personal items to be added to the banned list and these may include earplugs, battery packs, disposable e-cigarettes, vape pens, spray paint, eye drops, gas masks, helium balloons, air horns and vapo inhalers. In some cases, organisers may allow items in sealed packs but will prohibit unsealed cigarette packs, pre-filled refillable vape devices and unsealed tampons. Other less common banned items may include liquid makeup, musical instruments, glow sticks, frisbees, flying disks or personal transport (bicycles, skateboards, hover-boards, scooters, or personal motorized vehicles). 

For many of these banned items there is a cross over between safety and environment impact. Festival-goers should check the event websites for up-to-date lists of prohibited items as these lists seem to keep expanding every year and not every music festival is the same. Music festivals have increased their prohibited items lists in an attempt to improve security, safety, and minimise its environmental impact. In addition, enforcement can vary depending on location, it can be very strict in the UK, Australia and the United State but less so on continental Europe, Asia and Latin America. 

For festival organisers planning their next 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.

Image by MIH83 via Pixabay

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