Melvin Benn, organiser of the Reading / Leeds twin festivals, has insisted every emergency measure is in place for the coming weekend after the deaths of over ten festival-goers during recent weeks.
Events in Indiana (State Fair) and Belgium (Pukkelpop) have recently been hit with stage collapses following severe weather, leading to tragic deaths on both sites.
Now, with some reports suggesting thunder storms could hit Reading during the course of this weekend, Benn has moved to re-assure fans every precaution is being taken to ensure the festivals pass without incident.
“If we had something similar to Pukkelpop I know what actions I would take in order to make sure people were safe,” he told BBC Newsbeat.
“I have to table top exercises with the emergency services about the actions I would take in the event of all of those things. Believe me, there is no scenario of an eventuality that I have not looked at, including freak storms. I know how I would deal with it to ensure people’s safety. The level of effort over safety is immense. It’s the thing which keeps me awake at night.”
“It’s difficult to comment how freakish the weather was. Whether the weather was with or without warning. It’s virtually impossible to deal with things that are of that intensity without warning.
“Here in the UK, I would like to think, and certainly history has always suggested, that we’ve always had warning and that we’re able to prepare.”
My Chemical Romance will headline the first night at Reading tomorrow (August 26th), with Muse kicking off the Leeds leg.