Rave festivals should not be held to higher standard

 

Festival season has begun, with two of the biggest North American events, Coachella and Ultra.

However, during the past two months, electronic dance music aficionados, also known as ravers, have received heartbreaking news regarding some of their favorite festivals.

Days after the event concluded, Miami’s Ultra music festival surfaced the web with bad news.

Thomas Regalado, Mayor of Miami, and other city officials stated that they are looking to remove the three-day weekend event from Miami.

According to hollywoodreporter.com, Regalado is set to cancel Ultra, due to the fact that an event guard was trampled and severely injured during this year’s festival.

Also, according to cbs12.com, Regalado’s decision also came from the high number of arrests made during Ultra’s weekend.

EDM festivals and ravers are known for their spread of peace, love, unity and respect, so they shouldn’t be punished, as a whole, for the actions of aggressive and irresponsible individuals.

Although there’s no justification for violent behavior, Insomniac shouldn’t lose its venues for their ‘inability to control’ their massive crowds, especially since Ultra’s management can’t be blamed for the actions of each individual attending the festival.

Insomniac has uploaded a petition on change.org, to keep the Ultra musical festival in Miami, targeting several members of the City of Miami Commission and Mayor Regalado.

But, southern California appears to be losing numerous EDM events, as well.

Earlier in the year, Pasquale Rotella, the founder of Insomniac, took to Facebook to announce that southern Californian raves, including the Wonderland events, have been postponed, and that Beyond Wonderland and Nocturnal will be expanding to Las Vegas.

According to Rotella’s Facebook post, the San Manuel Amphitheater has been a great home for EDM events for years, but traffic has become a big issue for the city, and Insomniac has been unable to keep hosting events of high quality, due to the fact that the space can no longer sustain large musical festivals.

But, cities shouldn’t be intimidated by the large amount of audiences that Insomniac attracts to their events.

EDM festivals do create negative traffic, at late hours; however, instead of being an issue, San Bernardino should appreciate Insomniac’s success and realize that ravers help bring business into their city.

Although the Wonderland events and Nocturnal are smaller raves, San Bernardino has allowed them to succeed and created homes for them, so relocating is not an option.

Yes, they have two major flaws, traffic and excessive crowds, but regular concerts tend to have those same flaws, as well.

So, Insomniac venues shouldn’t be held to standards that other music venues aren’t.

Additionally, Ultra, one of Insomniac’s bigger events, has truly succeeded in their home, Miami, since 1999.

Thus, it would be dumb to change something that we know works.