The popularity of JLS brought Birmingham’s Christmas Lights Switch On concert to an early close as thousands flocked to the star studded event.
Due to safety concerns an emergency meeting was held and a joint decision was made between Birmingham City Council, BRMB, Millennium Point and the Emergency Services to cancel the event following JLS’s fantastic performance.
A combination of overnight weather conditions and the numbers at the event unfortunately meant that there was no option other than to cancel.
Joan Durose, Head of Events at Birmingham City council said: “At 1.30pm we reached capacity and closed the gates with just under 20,000 people in the square. At the end of JLS’s performance a safety fence was breached allowing too many people on the square. We are very sorry that the event has had to be cancelled, we know that people will be very disappointed, but the health and safety of the thousands of young people at the event was our prime concern.”
Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture, added: “I fully support the joint decision to abandon the concert because public safety has to be our paramount concern and I would sooner read headlines about ‘red-faces’ than headlines about a tragedy.
“We had a combination of factors, with overnight high winds damaging the fence and thousands of people breaking through that fence towards the end of the JLS performance.
“Once that happened we had to act quickly. There was an emergency plan for the event and that came into play to guarantee the safety of the thousands of people present.
“I’m sorry a lot of people went home disappointed and there will of course be a full investigation into what went wrong and what lessons can be learned for the future but I must stress once again that this was the correct decision in the circumstances.”
The Christmas Lights will now be switched on tomorrow (Nov 15)
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Maggi
The only comment not approved on the back of Saturday’s events contained bad language – I don’t think it was your earlier comment as the point you’ve raised was not mentioned.
As I say, we in no way look to sanitise views on this website, as a quick look at approved comments will confirm.
Geoff
my original comment was not under the same name,and has not appeared. I suggested that the council might adopt a common sense approach to the problem and return to the old style of lights switch on
Not at all the case Maggi.
Far more critical comments than the one you make reference to have been approved and we do not attempt to censor comments unless they are abusive etc.
I have looked at all the comments received since Saturday and cannot find another one from you.
This comment has been approved and I trust it contains your original point.
Geoff Coleman
Well what a surprise. My comment about adopting a common sense approach,a small event in Victoria Square rather than the hype of the past years, did not make it past the moderators. I will be surprised if this one does since it says the same thing. I hope it is at least read by someone involved.
Why the hell is Birmingham City Council staging events at Millenium Point. There is very little space at this venue to accomodate large outdoor events like this. When the lineup for the show includes not one but several of the biggest performers, singers and bands it it not brain science to realise that there is going to be a huge enormous crowd of fans and I feel that millenium point is just not the place for events like this. Some years ago events like this were held outside the ICC on broad street where there is plenty of open space. Why are the council resorting now to putting most of its events at millenium point that is limited on the space which in turn limits the amount of people who can attend. Birmingham City Council should be ashamed of yourselfs for planning such a fiasco in such a tightly spaced area.
Jada, there is no extra charge for using all the letters that make up a word, nor is there a charge for using all the words needed to make a decent sentence.
I can understand wat alot of you are sayin and understand your anger but the security done the best job that they could possibly do!! Considering the circumstances that they were put under I think they done a great job !! But it is the council you should complain about as it is them who decide the numbers and arrange the events. It was the council who were poor with communication not the security staff. And as for the crushes well if u have listened to the news then u will realise that the crush was serious and loads of casualties arose.
i think they should have planned it better,they should of had people selling tickets for the event but at a resonable price then there wouldnt be so many people getting crushed,people was throwing things like bottles and my friend got hit in the with a stone,it was dangerous.but i was glad they let JLS perform becos thats why there was so many people there they wernt gonna let them be let off.
this was a verry poorly run concert first problem it was free second the ammount of a list bands/ performers playing third the pitiful single barrier fourlthly the serious underestimation of people attending it was done for all the right reasons but no matter how long it took to organise it wasnt enough i feel sorry for the people being blamed for this as it wasnt their fault and it doesnt matter how full or empty the square looked if it was deamed full by the prometers then it was fullthe biggest problem was the public it was free im sure they could hear the bands from where they were. although this is a complete dangerous failure we can learn from this and i hope that newt year there can be a similar event but a suggestion they give tickets out for free if they wish and no ticket no entry simple and a more organised security team as they were not able to controle the crowds.
I don’t know which is worse, the breathtaking organisational incompetence, or the pathetic excuses about “bad weather”, crowd numbers, and suchlike.
Kiev managed a free Paul McCartney concert where there was very bad weather. And **10 times** as many people as your dangerous shambles.
I have been involved in the organisation of significant events around the country and was present at the lights switch on yesterday. I must say there was an obvious complete lack of significant organisation leading to complete chaos and a VERY dangerous situation. It is merely luck that no one was killed, security staff were obviously ill prepared and were finding it difficult to communicate with each other. Perhaps the most serious aspect was that the fleet of ambulances that arrived simply could not access the injured. May I suggest much more detailed and rubust preparation in the future.
Thank you for your comments. Please see the latest update. We have planned many successful and safe events over a number of years, this was an unprecedented situation. Planning for it had taken place jointly with the emergency services and we acted quickly to stop the event to avoid further injury and keep as many people as safe as possible.
I dnt knw y dey r comin wid investigation its is the councils fauld y did they put up the barriers i was there and they put up 1 huge barrier n left 1 person 2 hold it once the fing came down dat ws it a 6 yr old girl was crushed in the madness they shudnt even put up the barriers up in 1st place they shud of left it clear n now dere r people in hospital if i didnt hve my mum i wud be joing dem. nxt tym u lot shud fink about saftety a bit better
BCC continues to amaze me – paying with my my council tax such a star line up but ignoring the fact that many stars will also attract many people to attend. Waste of money. I’ve seen the scenes live from my flat at Masshouse, and it was all but luck that no more serious injuries or even deaths had to be recorded. The situation was completely out of control.
You say you had an emergency plan to put into place. Shame you didnt have a very good plan to start with. Poor planing by all involved and a silly location to have the lights. There is always to long between performances why not start it at 4pm and then finish at 7 and dont waste time too much time inbetween acts as that is when people start to push. You had a little metal fence to stop more people coming in. Use your brains!
why didn’t they let more people in. the venue was half empty. with such huge artists on the bill the security was poor. People got angry because of the limited amount of people let in and with so many trying to get in, the police had no chance. we heard winds blew fences down last night, but as experienced promoters they should have been ready for any eventuality. Lots of angry people about today! Oh and I was near the front and there was no pushing or crushing. Have been to a lot worse! personally think Birmingham city council could have done better!