Camping events present a safety management challenge that extends well beyond the hours of the entertainment program. Campers arrive before the event opens, remain after it closes, and occupy an area of the site that operates under different conditions than the entertainment zone. Fire, security, medical, water, and sanitation services must function 24 hours a day for the entire duration that campers are on site. Event producers who plan their event-day operations without adequate attention to the campsite — treating it as a self-managing ancillary activity — have experienced serious incidents that could have been prevented by applying the same systematic planning discipline to the camping area that was applied to the stage and crowd management.

Integrating Camping into Event Planning

The camping area must be incorporated into the event planning process as an integral component of the site, not added as an afterthought to the primary event plan. An adequate level of services and facilities must be planned for the full duration of the camping event — not merely during the entertainment program. In isolated locations, or at events where music begins early or runs late, contingency provision for camping may be necessary even when camping was not originally planned; some audience members will inevitably remain on or adjacent to the site when transportation is unavailable or when distances make departure impractical (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

The event publicity must state the opening and closing times of the campsite clearly so that campers understand the services timeline and do not remain on site beyond the period for which services will be maintained. Where large numbers of campers are likely to remain after the entertainment ends, a gradual site closure process — one that encourages departure without exposing campers to risk — should be planned and communicated in advance (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Campsite Design Requirements

The camping area must be reasonably well drained and level, with grass cut short to minimize the risk of fire spread between tent pitches. Camping must not be permitted on stubble, which presents a significant fire risk from campfires and cigarettes (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Breaking the camping area into discrete, smaller sub-areas is a fundamental design principle with multiple safety benefits. Discrete areas provide each camper group with an identifiable home location on the site — reducing the confusion and anxiety of returning to a featureless field of tents. They allow event management to manage each sub-area independently and to control the density within each area as it fills. They support information distribution and communications by providing named geographic references. And they facilitate organized emergency response by defining areas that can be managed sequentially (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

At music events involving camping, a broad mix of audience demographics is likely, and creating a separate area for family camping is often desirable. Separation between audience types can be achieved with posts and tape for smaller events or with physical barriers for larger ones. Where possible, the site layout should place the entertainment area in the center of the site with camping on the periphery and parking beyond that — a configuration that causes crowd movement during arrivals and departures to disperse outward from the performance focus rather than converging through it (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Site layout plans must be fully synchronized among all agencies involved, including security, medical, fire, and local authority representatives. Descriptions of site features and location designations must be identical across all agencies’ plans so that emergency response communications reference shared geographic terms. An incident reported at “camping zone 3” that is listed as “area C” on the medical team’s map creates critical delays in emergency response (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Natural Hazards

Site boundaries and arrangements must account for natural hazards present on or adjacent to the site, including ponds, ditches, rivers, and other water bodies. Audience members moving through a dark campsite — particularly those who have consumed alcohol — are at risk of falls into water features that are not adequately marked or fenced. Hazards such as electricity pylons may need physical barriers or exclusion fencing to prevent access and to eliminate the risk of shock from activities such as kite flying or the use of tethered commercial balloons, which may be brought to camping events by attendees (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Campsite Density Standards

industry safety guidance provides a density standard for camping at rock and pop events of up to 430 tents per hectare (one hectare equals 10,000 square meters, approximately 107,639 square feet, or 2.471 acres). At family-oriented events where larger tents with greater numbers of occupants are common, this density must be reduced — potentially by half — to accommodate the larger footprint per camping party and to provide adequate access routes and emergency movement capacity (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Providing separation distances between individual tent pitches improves fire safety, reduces trip hazards from tent stakes and guy lines, and creates a more manageable camping environment. Information and site maps showing camping areas must be provided to everyone entering the campsite, and sufficient stewards must be deployed to direct arriving campers to appropriate areas as the campsite fills. Preventing the concentration of all arrivals in the nearest available space — leaving more distant areas underpopulated while the entrance areas reach dangerous density — requires active steward management throughout the arrival period (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Vehicle and Live-In Vehicle Segregation

Physically separating camping areas from vehicle parking areas is a primary safety requirement at camping events. The reasons include eliminating risks from joyriding or vehicle theft, reducing the consequences of car fires, and preventing runaway vehicle incidents in areas occupied by sleeping campers. The distance between parking and camping should nonetheless be minimized to the extent possible; very long distances between parking and camping create access problems for families and others with large amounts of equipment to carry, and may encourage unauthorized vehicle movements onto the campsite (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Internal transport, such as shuttle services, should be considered for events where parking distances are unavoidable — particularly for families with children and significant equipment loads. Limited co-location of vehicles and camping may be appropriate in specific circumstances: level sites with a compliant audience profile (families, for example) may permit adjacent vehicle and tent placement, but the density must be substantially reduced to allow adequate roads and separation between units. Any such configuration must be designed in advance to prevent the inadvertent creation of blocked areas where vehicles and tents prevent emergency access (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Live-in vehicles — recreational vehicles, camper vans, and adapted vehicles — require a dedicated area separate from both tent camping areas and general parking. Such vehicles must not be used for camping in general parking areas, as they create irregular vehicle placement, fire risk, and access complications (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

On-Site Information, Organization, and Steward Deployment

Information important to campsite safety — including restrictions on unauthorized sound systems, campfires, and prohibited items — should appear on the ticket, not only on signage encountered on site. At strategic points throughout the site, including the campsites, information stations including “you are here” maps and directions to key facilities (toilets, water, medical, fire points) must be provided. Making safety information easily accessible throughout the event — including during overnight hours — is a requirement that may be met with a mobile patrol operating 24 hours a day, equipped with radio communications and capable of responding to information requests as well as to emergency situations including medical issues and fires (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Stewards must be positioned within the camping areas before campers arrive to assist with campsite build-up and to monitor key facilities including toilets, fire provision, and water supply. These stewards play an active role in dispersing campers across the designated areas during arrival, preventing the density concentration problems that develop when unguided campers fill the most convenient areas first (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

Conclusion

The camping component of a live event requires a level of planning and operational management commensurate with the risk it introduces: a large population of people, including families with children, sleeping in an outdoor environment for an extended period, often with limited awareness of their surroundings and with reduced capacity to respond to emergency communications during nighttime hours. The site design principles, density standards, vehicle segregation requirements, and information management practices described in this article provide the foundation for a camping operation that supports the event experience without creating avoidable safety risks to the camping audience.

References

Health and Safety Executive. (1999). industry safety guidance (2nd ed.). HSE Books.