Summer outdoor concerts and WIND – a deadly combination

Saturday night’s stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair is already being called the deadliest of its kind in U.S. history.

The crowd of roughly 10,000 were awaiting the show, and witnessing the ominous signs of the imminent storm.

Quite abruptly, wind gusts – estimated to have exceeded 60 mph – tore through the metal and fabric stage structure, killing 5 people and injuring another 40.

As a result, questions are being asked about the safety of outdoor stage structures in an era of changing weather.  The structures – engineered to be portable and lightweight – are capable of supporting tons of sound and lighting equipment.  In addition, the design (stage platform and overhead canopy) provide volumous surface area.

The combination of portability, low weight, and large surface area, when combined with wind, may pose unquantifiable risk as evidenced by the following outdoor accidents:

• August 1^st, 2009: stage collapses due to wind at Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose Alberta (1 fatality, 75 injuries).
• July 17^th, 2011: stage collapses at Ottawa’s  BluesFest injuring 8 people.
• August 6^th, 2011: a Flaming Lips performance in Tulsa, Oklahoma is cancelled as the overhead stage rigging collapses, causing the toppling of a 15 ft. video screen.

Without question several players are expecting to be enjoined in the resulting legal action.  But the issue of liability is not easily determined.  Who is responsible in these situations?

Is it the stage designer and/or manufacturer; the contractor who determines where the stage will sit and what direction it faces; the technicians and labourers who assemble the portable structure; the venue operator and/or concert promoter who may have been even slightly tentative in cancelling the event for fear of bad publicity and ticket refunds;  municipal or other government authorities responsible for structural standards and building code inspections?

The Indianapolis incident will be expensive.  And the legal process will be protracted.

Several insurers will be involved in sorting out the mess – and determining whether risk is measurable for temporary outdoor concert venues in an era of erratic weather.