AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 98

occurring within a quarter-mile radius the town or High Street
nearest to each. Again we use data from the Home Office, sourced
from data.police.uk using ukcrimestats.com. Charts 22 to 27 record
the profile of crimes over the whole of 2018, as well as the particular
month in which each festival took place.
On the face of it, RIZE Festival, Chelmsford, which was held in
August 2018, was a musical event that could be associated with some
of the 100 extra recorded incidents of ASB for the whole of that month.
Yet if we look at the district of Chelmsford where V Festival is held, it is
anyway, year-round, much more exercised by ASB than the local High
Street. So the impetus that ASB received in August 2018 was probably
as much to do with time and place as it was to do with RIZE.
Mostly Jazz/Mosely Folk, held in Birmingham in July, made no
impression on figures for recorded instances of ASB.
For Parklife, Manchester, held in August, the postcode at which
the music festival was held boasted an even lower recorded incidence
of ASB than the nearest High Street. In August, the recorded incidence
of ASB in the festival district was actually at rock-bottom levels.
The Bournemouth 7s, held in May, is another informal outdoor
event focused on both sport and wider entertainments. Like Parklife,
it was bothered by virtually no recorded instances of ASB in 2018.
British Summer Time, Hyde Park, London, held in July, is a music
event that appears to have had no impact on recorded ASB. Throughout
2018, Marble Arch was more prone to that than BST.
Field Day, Clapham, London, held in June 2018, did seem to
approach the recorded incidence of ASB occurring in the nearest High
Street during that month, but the inflexion was modest.
Altogether, these charts make only a very weak argument, if that,
for the idea that outdoor informal events have a discernibly negative
effect on local rates of ASB.
Of course, people at informal events aren’t all angels, and one
cannot be starry-eyed about them. It is true that alcohol, like illegal
drugs, is psychoactive – even if served in a Church. As such, alcohol
may increase risks. This White Paper therefore fully supports, for
example, a tough line against under-age drinking: what applies to
pubs must apply equally to clubs and other events.
Despite the very real tragedy that crimes at events can very
occasionally end in, however, it’s still vital to avoid sensationalism
and instead keep a cool head – especially when attributing
individual crimes to very large social trends.
With every incident at an event, root cause analysis is certainly
essential. What time of day or night did it take place? How many
people attended? Did the event organiser fail to plan ahead? If new
to events, did the organiser think to ask more experienced colleagues
about what might go wrong – with pickpockets, or thefts of mobiles?
If the event looked like being big business, might it not also attract big
crime? Above all, when real harms began to loom, did the organiser
fail to intervene, given that intervention is required by the four
Objectives of the Licensing Act?
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