Chaos Erupts During Flume, Migos and Lil Yachty’s Canadian Performance
Last Thursday, Ottawa’s RBC Bluesfest was faced with an incredibly rowdy crowd in which 200 festival attendees were assessed by on-site first responders and 10 others were immediately rushed to the nearest Hospital. CBC has reported that 6 out of the 10 audience members were minors and the on-site medical team urgently needed to call for backup to assist with these unforeseen emergencies.
With an average annual attendance of more than a quarter-million fans (over 300,000 each year) there was no doubt that the crowds would be large for the amazing headlining acts: Migos, Flume and Lil Yachty – however, the festival definitely didn’t anticipate the absolutely outrageous madness, including one sexual assault case, that this past week brought.
“At first the crowd wasn’t that crazy, but the more you would go forward, the more people would just push each other and do mosh pits. It was just insane,” 18-year-old Josh Michel explained to CBC. “Girls were falling everywhere. Some girls were crying, having panic attacks, saying they couldn’t breathe. Just because some guys like to push each other and do these mosh pits.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, it has been reported that the individuals that were brought to the Hospital were treated for drug and alcohol intoxication, as well as trauma directly relating to falls. To top it all off, the on-site security staff were being bombarded with outside fans rushing the gates attempting to get into the festival area. You can watch the chaos erupt below:
Migos’ fans are known to have a certain attitude, usually involving moshpit lovers; this type of festival attendee is one that many security and first-responders do not appreciate as it causes many potential incidents to occur – such as severe falls. As indicated, there were no shortages of fall related injuries. It has also been reported that there was an alleged issue of individuals throwing full cans of beer into the audience – obviously injuring the fans that they impacted.
Ottawa’s RBC Bluesfest had to reinforce a strict no re-entry policy due to this horrible series of events – however, many wonder if that was enough to prevent these chain of events from happening once again. The festival has now come to an end, closing its gate for the year this past Sunday, July 17th, 2017 at LeBreton Flats Park.
We look forward to seeing if stricter security policies will be put into place next year, or perhaps even a change in the music genres to avoid the stereotypical festival attendee creating havoc amongst the crowds.