Showstop Procedure, a global crowd safety training and certification programme for venues and large-scale event organisers, has expanded its reach from the US, with courses staged in the UK and mainland Europe.

Since launching with The Pink Bows Foundation in the US in March on the back of a conference panel exploring its content at the Event Production Show, the course has been staged in the UK and Denmark.

Course Facilitators Mark Hamilton and Steve Allen delivered two accredited Showstop Procedure courses, hosted by Roskilde Festival (pictured), that were attended by event professionals from across Europe.

Founded by the Pink Bows Foundation in memory of Madison Dubiski, who was 23 years old when she died in a crush during a Travis Scott concert at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, the one-day Showstop Procedure course has so far been attended by 125 live event professions.

Showstop Procedure has the backing of organisations including the Event Safety Alliance, Event Safety Alliance Canada, Global Crowd Management Alliance and the United Kingdom Crowd Management Association.

Organisers said the next, sold-out, courses will run in Dublin and Glasgow in the coming weeks, with future courses scheduled from September being announced shortly.

“The overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve received from highly respected industry safety and production specialists, along with all of the courses selling out, has been humbling,” said Allen. “We’ve updated the syllabus and this weekend’s course content felt laser focused. There is no doubt in our minds that this course will contribute to a safer events culture as we roll it out across the world.”

Roskilde Festival director of safety Morton Therkilsden said, “Never stop learning and improving. I believe that we have a good system for stopping a show at Roskilde Festival and RFX. We still hosted a course on Showstop procedure on behalf of Pink Bows Foundation. Wow, that was good.”

Pascal Viot, security coordinator at Paléo Arts & Spectacles and Yourope Event Safety Group also attended the course. He said, “The first certified European Showstop Procedure course at Roskilde Festival was delivered with outstanding clarity and professionalism by Mark Hamilton and Steve Allen, on behalf of the Pink Bows Foundation. This course is part of a collaborative international initiative I am proud to co-develop, to promote a shared culture of responsibility and create global standards for stopping shows safely.”

For a more in-depth report on developments with the course, and its content, see the fortcoming edition of Access All Areas magazine.

LinkedIn