by Garth Meyer
BeachLife Festival co-founder Allen Sanford and staff are at work this week in the aftermath of Sunday’s cancellation of the last three hours of the three-day music expo due to high winds.
Sanford talked to Easy Reader Wednesday about how decisions were made that day, what the reaction has been and what comes next.
“I would say it was a great outcome compared to what could have happened,” he said.
At 1 p.m. Sunday the video screens behind the two stages were lowered to the ground.
“We were in action from 11 a.m. on,” Sanford said.
Responding to comments from attendees that it “wasn’t all that windy,” that BeachLife should have waited to cancel, Sanford said, “It really wasn’t a decision. It was a plan in place, above 30 mph wind, you stop performances and evacuate the premises; and we executed that plan.”
Interim Fire Chief Patrick Butler made the final call to cancel, which Sanford fully supports.
“We’re still reeling from the consequences of that plan,” he said. “Every bone in your economic body wants to avoid canceling.”
He reported that the festival donated 600 pounds of food Monday to Salvation Army on Beryl Street.
“We have limited insurance that pays for limited things. We do have cancellation insurance. But this is called an abandonment. At this time we do not have a confirmation that insurance will pay for anything, but we hope they do the right thing.”
Partial refunds for ticketholders?
“Another incredibly difficult undertaking to detangle,” Sanford said. “We’ll be addressing the situation with our fans by the end of the week. We’re not going to forget about the fans.”
Regarding “disinformation” he has heard since Sunday, Sanford commented on assertions about the wind and suggestions that the stages were not tied-down properly.
“Nothing happened, no structure failed, nobody got hurt, no nothing. The disinformation, the real story is it was that windy. It really was that windy. We’ve got an drone anemometer (picture) showing 46 mph wind. The reason (spectators) didn’t feel it was because of it being blocked by all those structures. The stages are 50-60 feet high. That was where the wind was.”
He pointed out the checks and re-checks of the stages in the time before, and during, the festival. Chief Butler said he had no concerns about the stages’ structural integrity beforehand.
Sanford listed the protocols for building the stages; first architectural drawings are reviewed by a state-licensed structural engineer, then submitted to the city, for which a city engineer reviews the drawings, then after the stages are built/installed, they are visually observed by a licensed engineer, then a city engineer.
“It’s no different than building a building,” Sanford said.
In the end, after evacuation, the BeachLife grounds appeared unchanged.
“Not one banner, pole or object or anything, not even an umbrella flew,” Sanford said. “It takes one 50-lb. object to whip through a crowd to kill somebody. That’s it.”
Sunday
Their beards waving in 40 mph wind, ZZ Top was pulled off the stage Sunday at BeachLife Festival 2024 for safety, but not before Billy Gibbons got in a few notes of “Cheap Sunglasses.” A security guard finally took him away from the Low Tide Stage microphone.
A one-hour delay ensued, which turned into an evacuation of the grounds, then cancellation.
Interim Fire Chief Butler and Police Chief Joe Hoffman conferred on the decision to cancel, after wind gusts reached 51 mph.
Authorities monitored conditions throughout the day, in part using an “unmanned aerial vehicle weather platform (UAV)” – a drone which recorded a jump to.43 mph winds at 5:18 p.m. Performances were then stopped, and at 5:28 p.m., crowds were informed by the Festival’s public address system to stay clear of free-standing stages and other potential hazards.
The Festival’s Unified Command Team – made up of Redondo Beach Police and Fire Department personnel – assessed the grounds on foot and evacuated the 7,500 attendees.
By 5:50 p.m., according to the Command Team, more than 95% of the people had evacuated, with no reported injuries.
A joint statement Monday from the Command Team and Sanford/festival organizers reported that “sustained 40 mph winds began to compromise the free-standing stage structures creating a public safety risk and life hazard to the attendees and event personnel.”
“Once the property was fully evacuated, it would have required a full fire safety inspection including structural engineers to check for signs of stress fatigue on the stage(s),” said Fire Chief Butler. “Before we could even consider allowing the public to return. It was too much of a risk to reopen for less than three hours.”
Acts yet to play Sunday included Fleet Foxes, Trey Anastasio Band and final headliner My Morning Jacket.
Sanford praised the Command Team for their actions.
“I am well aware and take very seriously the inherent responsibility that comes with producing a large-scale event to prioritize the safety and security of every single individual attending over anything — including economics or any other potential outfall,” he said. “While I am a festival producer, I am a father, husband, and community member first, and wholeheartedly support the decision to evacuate made by Chief Butler.”
Last Thursday, the day before the festival opened, the RBFD and RBPD held mock exercises that included a stage collapse-scenario due to high winds.
“The stages were plenty stout, they were designed properly,” Chief Butler told Easy Reader Tuesday. “I didn’t have any indication that the stages were going to collapse. This was precautionary.”
During the evacuation, some essential personnel remained on site for a time, to turn off the grills and other tasks.
Once the grounds were clear, BeachLife 2024 was effectively over.
“We practiced this scenario, and I thought it was well-received by the attendees,” Butler said of Sunday’s developments. “All the plans worked as put in place.”
“Special thanks to Chief Butler, Chief Joe Hoffman, and our partner and head of security, Keith Kauffman, for their invaluable leadership during this experience,” Sanford said. ER
