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Festival Boss To Give Anti-Rape Advice

added 30 July 2010 at 13.28

Latitude festival organiser Melvin Benn as hit back at critics following two alleged rapes at the event earlier this month. The Festival Republic boss claimed that the events are "a safe place to be" and that the reported attacks on two women over the weekend of July 16 to 18 at the Suffolk-based festival had been distorted by the press.

"There are two allegations," he told the BBC. "I do resent the way the press have made it out as being that somehow these are suddenly unsafe places to be. If rape took place it's horrific. I think we work very hard on safety.

"Festivals are made up of an incredible amount of like minded people who offer great support to each other."

Benn, who also runs the Reading and Leeds festivals, added that the company would "provide additional information, guidelines and support, particularly for young women under 18."

In the light of the disaster at last weekend's Love Parade event in Duisberg, Germany, which saw 19 people killed in a stampede, Benn assured gig0goers that such an incident would never happen at a British festival. "They're all licensed under very strict premises licensing guidelines and I'm very confident and very comfortable about the safety standard of the entire music industry here in the UK."

Tagged as Festivals 2010

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