Event Planning: Crowd Management
Many aspects of your event can have a direct impact on crowd behaviour, such as:
- Design of venue to allow for crowd movement within the site
- Number of people attending
- Positioning of crowd control barriers and fencing
- Ensuring the right amount of facilities are available
- How messages are communicated with the public
- Who will be attending? (Think about age, where they are coming from, behaviour - each age group brings its own demands and risks).
- Character of the performers and their activities
The following points should be considered
- Entry and exit of the audience
- Opening time
- Crowd pressure at the entrances
- Opening the entrances and arrangements for the front of stage area
- Ticketing policies
- Admission policies (in particular, alcohol)
- Searching policies
- Crowd Sway/Surges
- Stewarding/marshalling
- Is security required?
- Has the event been held before?
- What can you learn from previous experience?
See new guidance primarily aimed at those with a responsibility for security at crowded places - Crowded Place Guidance