Buenos Aires pursues promoters after EDM ban

Things are heating up for the promoters of the Time Warp EDM festival (April 16) in Buenos Aires in Argentina, where five crowd members died of drug overdoses and several more needed hospitalisation.

A day after a ban on all EDM festivals until a stricter law was introduced, 30 of those connected with Time Warp have been detained and told they have to testify before an inquiry.

Federal judge Sebastian Casanello, investigating a possible cause of negligent deaths, made the call for the arrests. Among the 30 were Adrian Conci, Head of event production company Dell Producciones. Local radio claimed that the number of tickets sold at Time Warp exceeded the venue’s capacity. But Conci’s lawyer insists this was a fault (or mistake), and did not constitute a crime. Radio also reported that Conci has allegedly been on the run since.

Others who must testify include those in charge of the site’s evacuation plan, several members of the municipal government and an outsourced security firm.

The mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, has suspended all permits for EDM festivals until legislation forcing festival patrons to educate patrons on drug use is adopted.

Larreta said, “Organisers will hand out brochures and provide information against the (dangers) of drugs and addiction. This fight we have to take together, with more restraint, information and prevention.”

Witnesses said that festival-goers were offered designer drugs including ecstasy pills, doses of LSD, marijuana, poppers and cocaine.

Time Warp began in Germany in 1994, before expanding to the Netherlands, Italy, and the United States. It was being held in Buenos Aires for the third year.

Buenos Aires is the latest to restrict EDM festivals after Los Angeles County, Singapore, Malaysia, Belgium and India.

Last year, after two teenage girls died of drug overdoses at the Hard Summer festival at the Pomona Fairplex, Los Angeles, County Supervisor Hilda Solis proposed a ban on dance-music festivals at venues on county-owned land (including the Fairplex).

The ban never took place. But this week it was announced that that Hard Summer will return this year on July 30 and 31, headlined by Ice Cube and Major Lazer. But it will be moved to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in neighbouring San Bernardino County, which is more tolerant of EDM festivals. Audiences have to be aged 18 and over.

In 2014, Malaysia shut down Future Music Asia after six died of overdoses and 29 were arrested. Since 2012 it had been building its audience from 15,000 to 85,000, with support from the country’s tourism board. A year later, Thirst: We Are All Stardust was also axed by the Government at the last minute. Many of their attendees came from around the region, including Australia, and response from social media is that they would prefer to attend EDM events in other countries and leave Malaysia out in the cold.

Future Music Asia struck up a deal with the Singapore Government to stage there in 2015. The Government is branding the country as the EDM capital of the Asia-Pacific. Future Music Asia was also cancelled at the last minute after concerns about possible drug use. Despite that, the Singapore Government and the Miami-originating Ultra Music will be staged September 10 and 11.

But restrictions have also been placed on raves that are not connected to drugs.

Earlier this week Jan Briers, the Governor of East Flanders, in Belgium, held a meeting with most promoters of 200 music festivals held in the region, including the EDM themed Tomorrowland. He wanted to discuss which security measures they would introduce to their events this year. Following the terror attacks in a Brussels airport in March, a ban was immediately placed on bags and rucksacks brought into the country’s football stadiums. Briers wants that extended to music festivals.

No decision was made from the meeting, and Briers will allow each promoter to decide with local police and council what measures will be introduced. But Tomorrowland would face a problem: it is a camping festival and a bag ban would be impractical.

Last December, the Goa, India, Government brought in a restriction for Supersonic and Sunburn. Both have suffered a drug overdose death each. But in this case, the Government insisted that the two EDM giants will no longer be held in the peak tourist season between December 15 and January 15. This was due to its concerns over security and traffic with tourists and huge festival attendance coming together at the same time. Sunburn this year drew 350,000 ravers.