It doesn’t get much bigger for music than BBC Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend Festival which took place last month, as 40,000 music fans descended on Coventry for two full days of the hottest artists. Not only was it a big weekend for music but also for ATG Access’ Surface Guard, as StadiumTM were called on to secure the annual event.
Held at the historic War Memorial Park in Coventry, the festival saw performances from the likes of Liam Gallagher and the Stereophonics. In order to protect the event, StadiumTM deployed Surface Guard at four key locations across the site, stretching across 50m. Designed to be crowd permeable the innovative barrier system was used to protect the pathways leading to the main stage, allowing music fans to easily flow through the perimeter while keeping them safe.
Working closely with Coventry City Council, StadiumTM ensured that the project was delivered correctly and on time. The rapidly deployable design of ATG’s Surface Guard along with StadiumTM’s trained personnel meant that the barrier could be set up quickly and easily, with minimal disruption.
As a Coventry company through and through, StadiumTM’s director David McAtamney was thrilled to be part of such a big local event. “For us as a Coventry based company, we are very pleased and proud to be a part of the music and cultural scene in aiding to deliver to such events and securing such spaces. Bringing the Coventry community together to experience international and world-famous music artists is something that drives us in what we do”.
While the Surface Guard has been deployed at a number of big sporting events and a large DJ festival in the Netherlands, the ‘Biggest Weekend’ was the first major music festival in the UK to adopt the surface mounted security barrier. Event organisers are now realising they need to take additional steps to protect fans, at festivals, due to large, concentrated crowds making an ideal target for a potential vehicle attack.
ATG Access’ Sales and Marketing Director, Gavin Hepburn had this to say. “It’s great to see more and more organisers adopting temporary security solutions for big events like this. The safety of fans and visitors should be at forefront of organisers minds ensuring crowds are secure is paramount. When it comes to pedestrian permeable, temporary event security there aren’t really any other solutions available which match the rapidly deployable and crowd friendly design of the Surface Guard, making it an excellent option for quickly securing a festival or concert”.
Sentiments that were echoed by David, “With the outdoor and music festival industry having grown over the past few years it is paramount that these security parameters are taken into account to reduce the risk of attacks happening”.
Securing the Rolling Stones Concert with Surface Guard
The Biggest Weekend wasn’t the only major event secured this week. As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss, and true to form, the Surface Guard was back in action on Saturday (June 2nd), protecting fans at the Rolling Stones concert in Coventry. Held at the Ricoh Arena, over 30,000 fans turned out to see the rock legends take the stage. Due to the vulnerable location of the arena, and such large crowds in attendance, the Surface Guard was the ideal solution for safeguarding the public from potential attacks.
With people starting to gather from 2pm onwards, it was important to deploy the Surface Guard as quickly as possible. In order to protect attendees, the Surface Guard was strategically positioned at three locations around the arena, covering 60m in total. As with any event this size, it’s important that the emergency services have quick and easy access to the site. To solve this problem StadiumTM installed and manned two of the ATG Access, Surface Guard Vehicle Access Points, allowing emergency vehicles to quickly respond in the event of an accident, injury or attack.
The Surface Guard followed the Stones up to Old Trafford in Manchester on Tuesday (June 5th) for their first gig in the city in 15 years. With a whopping 50,000 people in attendance, StadiumTM covered the two main roadways within the stadium footprint with 30m of Surface Guard. The versatility of the barrier’s modular design was on show once again as Surface Guard Vehicle Access Points were placed on each road.
Overall, it’s been a hugely successful week for ATG’s Surface Guard with strong praise from fans and organisers alike.
“From both events we have received very good feedback on the barriers from both organisers and members of the public. Providing that extra security to such events is well respected in the community and commended” – David McAtamney