Unsurprisingly rumours are rife that local authorities are considering what conditions they should set should Fatboy Slim plan another Brighton beach party event next year. More than three times as many people as expected turned up to the Big Beach Boutique last weekend making the event a nightmare for emergency services. Six people had to be rescued from the sea by lifeboat and around 90 other injuries were caused by fights, excessive alcohol and crushing in the crowd. The crowds were so big emergency services were reported to have had to transport injured people off the beach by lifeboat, and the local road and public transport system collapsed as the thousands of party-goers left the city. There’s been no word on whether Norman Cook has even thought about a third year for the event. He reportedly forked out £100,000 of his own money for this year’s event after a sponsor pulled out.
CMU’s editor foolishly decided to drive down from North London: a journey that usually takes 2 1/2 hours took 5 1/2. 80,000 cars were reputed to have been Brighton bound, and this was totally believable with the standstill traffic on most of the North Circular, M25 and M23 to Brighton. “Although the beach and most of the city was a heaving throng of revellers, and although there were a couple of music stoppages due to lamp-post-climbers, I saw no sea-rescues – although a helicopter did hover over head and obscure the music for a large proportion of the time! There were ambulances trying to drive through the crowds at the end, though none seemed to be in any hurry. Last year’s event was packed, and they didn’t publicise it, so how can they expect the same turn out with loads of advertising and marketing? They need a bigger venue.”