The Association of Independent Festivals has announced an initiative to try and deal with the problem of campsite crime at music festivals, including the theft of tents. A new 'Security Task Force' has been formed and will attempt to target the gangs acknowledged to be responsible for the majority of this sort of criminal activity.
It's hoped that the Task Force will enable festival organisers to share intelligence on the aforementioned gangs, and therefore tackle the issue more effectively, maintaining a consistent presence at all participating festivals whilst working with event security companies and police services to identify known criminals before they've even set foot on site.
AIF board member and Loud Sound director Jim King says: "Whilst still statistically low, thefts at UK festivals have to be addressed. Customer experience and safety is a most important part of the whole festival experience and we want to act to ensure that customers have a great time at our events without experiencing the upsetting scenario of being a victim of crime".
Rob da Bank, Bestival promoter and AIF co-founder adds: "Tent theft at our festivals has always been very low, but any theft at all is really upsetting for the promoter and the people involved. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to set up AIF and I really believe we can make a difference with this initiative".