Security & Safety Measures Police force

Authority figures such as the local Gisborne city police took action
throughout the three-day Rhythm and Vines festival period in ways that
required their presence, co-operation and enforcement of certain laws
within and around the RNV festival grounds contributing to the overall
success of the event and therefore an important aspect to the planning
process. Police were required to line certain roads leading into the festival
grounds in order to enforce the no drink/driving law with people travelling
to and from the festival grounds.
"We will be stopping traffic at random points along both highways coming
from Hawke's Bay and Opotiki, so the chances of getting caught drinking and
driving are extremely high," Said Eastern Road policing manager Inspector
Peter McKennie, 3news.co.nz. Thus, it is evident how thorough the
patrolling of nearby roads to the RNV grounds was by policemen for the
event and more importantly how security was maintained throughout the
festival by this.

For the 2012 Rhythm and Vines festival, police were out in force on all
highways both north and south of Gisborne City, saying that their ultimate
aim was to persuade drivers to be very sensible, and would not hesitate
to take action by stopping people who drove dangerously/speed.
"Moving a large amount of people to one location is no easy task, and we ask
that anyone who is travelling in the Gisborne region over the next few days to
take it easy and drive sensibly," Peter McKennie said. It is noticeable from
this evidence that the police force were extremely effective forms of
security maintenance for the 2012 Rhythm and Vines festival, and that
extreme road control and law enforcement for the festival attendees and
public was met throughout the duration of RNV.
Strengths

With the vast and constant measures authority figures local police
forces took over the course of the three-day Rhythm and Vines
festival, safety and enforcement of laws were clearly evident within
the festival grounds. Because of this, people attending RNV were
controlled to an extent, which meant that their overall safety was
never at risk. Police strove to enforce this with arresting and
escorting people out of the festival grounds who expressed
unacceptable/illegal behaviours.
With police enforcing temporary driving laws such as the 4km/h
speed tolerance limit around the Rhythm and Vines festival grounds,
this meant that pedestrians travelling to and from the festival grounds
on foot or by car, as well as the public using the roads around this
area, would have been at a minimal risk to collisions on the roads
during the three-day period. Therefore, security and safety measures
taken throughout the Rhythm and Vines event needed thorough
planning and organisation, making this aspect a crucial part of the
event planning process.


Weaknesses

Drink driving/speeding occurrences were still recorded even with the
presence of the police force during the RNV festival, and although a
considerable amount of these people violating these laws were caught
and charged, this put an additional amount of pressure on police
involved in the RNV event to go to more extreme measures to ensure
a lower level of illegalities were committed during the three-day
festival period.

Successes

Over the years the Rhythm and Vines festival has taken place, police
have proven to be successful with maintaining the safety levels of
people travelling to and from the festival grounds, as well as
controlling the social activities happening within. As an example of
such success police forces had as a result of the 2012 RNV festival,
there were a small number of arrests after a bottle was thrown during
a performance by the John Butler Trio and hit John Butlers guitar,
causing a small disruption on stage and in the crowd. As a result,
police at the scene were forced to make these arrests it is noticeable
that police were indeed successful with controlling and disciplining
unacceptable behaviours during the festival. Success with the
planning and organisation for safety and security during RNV is
clearly evident with relation to the measures authority figures such as
police forces took.
Medical Precautions Medical Staff (St Johns)

For the 2012 Rhythm and Vines festival, organisers and planners for the
event ensured that necessary medical staff and facilities were readily
available to those attending the three-day festival. Such action taken to
successfully meet these precautions saw St Johns ambulances onsite to
deal with any medical issues people may have. On top of this, a team of
local Angels were also set to patrol the grounds, looking for anyone that
looked potentially unsafe, intoxicated or dehydrated. There were also a
number of chill out zones on site for festival attendees to have an area to
relax and dehydrate, for the 2012 festival. Other actions taken throughout
the RNV festival to ensure that it was a success, on a medical level was the
Escape Lounge that was set up for the 2012 RNV festival as a popular
place for people to relax on couches set up under a large shade-sail canopy
for sun protection.
Strengths

With such vast medial precautions taken by medical staff over the
duration of the Rhythm and Vines festival saw heightened levels of
safety for people attending the event. People who could have suffered
heat stroke, dehydration or severe sunburn would have been
attended to by medical staff or could have relaxed and recovered in
the covered Escape Lounge provided for the 2012 festival.

Weaknesses

During the musical performances, large crowds would have formed
around the stage areas, possibly creating cramped and humid groups
of people or mosh pits that could have potentially caused people to
become medically unfit people may well have become overheated
and could have also fainted in the crowded mosh pit areas. Because of
this, medical staff may not have noticed people needing medical
attention due to the crowds around stages being particularly
congested and hard to keen track of and scout for people in need of
help. Thus, a weakness is identified for the medical actions taken
during the formation of large crowds, as medical staff could have
found it difficult to keep an eye on every individual in a large ground
such as a mosh pit surrounding a stage.

Successes

There were several successful cases treated by medical staff during
the 2011 Rhythm and Vines festival including skin injuries,
sprains/strains, fractures/dislocations/breakages, intoxication, eye
injuries/infections, hyperventilation, asthma and small number of
drug and alcohol overdose cases of which included both conscious
and unconscious patients. It is evident that St Johns services were
successful in attending to medically unfit people during the 2011
festival, with a total of 455 people having been seen to or treated
during the course of the event.
Due to extreme medical actions taken during the Rhythm and Vines
festival, people attending would have felt they were in safe hands and
that if they ever needed any form of medical attention, treatment or
advise, there were a large group of trained and able medical staff such
as St Johns teams present throughout the duration of the festival to
help them. It is evident from this that actions taken and the overall
presence of medical staff during the RNV festival was an aspect
contributing to the overall success and safety of the event.
Camping Grounds facilities included for campers

Camping facilities were provided for the 2012 Rhythm and Vines festival,
giving attendees the opportunity to be based within the festival grounds,
being able to enjoy the ultimate experience of the festival. Soak up the
event atmosphere 24 hours a day and get up close and personal. A truly
unique experience, campers will be situated amidst the lush green
vineyard. information under the accommodation section of the official
Rhythm and Vines website states.

These camping facilities were restricted (in 2012) for people 20 years and
older and offered the following throughout the whole three-day festival
period:

Access to campsite during festival hours
24 hour camp store/office
24 hour security
Caf/Espresso coffee vans
Dedicated BBQ, picnic and common shade area, food preparation and
wash up area
Hot showers, fully serviced toilets
Free WIFI access
RFID card loading
Phone and I-Pod charging
Free drinking water
Camping car park
Games area
Access to festival water slide outside festival hours

The Rhythm and Vines event organisers would have had to decide on a
limit to the number of camping tickets able to be sold, with consideration
to the camping space available for use. This would have needed careful
planning to ensure that camping grounds were not excessively crowded,
and therefore ensuring the social success of the camping side to the festival
overall.
Strengths

A strength to the planning process and follow through with the
camping facilities available at the Rhythm and Vines festival saw a
total of 8,000 people who camped on-site for the 2012 Rhythm and
Vines festival. It is evident from this statistic alone that camping and
the facilities provided within these campsites for attendees showed
extreme popularity with the number of camping tickets sold in 2012
alone.
The range of facilities provided within the campsites would have
provided campers with all they needed to feel at home and have a
safe, healthy and enjoyable camping experience with all of the
necessary resources available to them such as toilets, food & drink
vans, showers, phone charging points and car parks daily needs for
campers would have been successfully met with such numerous
campsite facilities.

Weaknesses

With the age restriction for the 2012 campers being 20+ years, this
would have meant that people under this age limit wishing to attend
the festival might not have been able to find other accommodation
options for the three-day period. This could have been an even bigger
setback to attending the festival for people travelling from far
distances to Gisborne such as from Auckland or other part of the
North Island for example. Even international festival attendees under
the age of 20 may have found it difficult to find other
convenient/alternative accommodation options for three days.

Successes

The camping facilities available at RNV festivals have proven to be
extremely popular and successful over the years the event has been
held. This has become evident with the number of camping tickets
available for the 2012 festival (8,000) having completely sold out.
Thus, it is therefore evident that the planning involved in creating
camping sites/facilities for festival attendees has been extremely
successful with the amount of interest and ticket sales.
Suggestions for improving the camping grounds/facilities for future RNV festivals:

In order for the planning process for providing pleasing camping ground facilities for future RNV festivals, the event planners and organisers could
conduct an online/email survey for people who attended the latest RNV festival examining what each person thought of the conditions, facilities and
their overall enjoyment of their onsite camping experience. Event planners for the next RNV festival could therefore take all of the feedback and
statistics from the surveys into consideration and make necessary changes and improvements to facilities within the campsites for the future
festivals. This could ensure that the overall experience and enjoyment for people camping would be of the highest level possible.