NewsU.S. and the World

Actions

Safety task force issues recommendations months after deadly Astroworld concert

Astroworld festival
Posted at 11:49 AM, Apr 21, 2022
and last updated 2022-04-21 13:49:03-04

More than five months after 10 concertgoers died at the Astroworld Festival, safety officials are announcing new recommendations and strategies to keep concerts safe.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott created the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety after people were killed and injured in Houston.

The task force -- made up of safety experts, law enforcement, state agencies and music industry leaders -- released its final report this week.

It recommended concerts should have a centralized on-site command and control group to determine when and how to halt an event if safety is threatened.

Triggers for safety issues should be outlined in event permission applications, the task force suggested.

Safety experts also recommended that emergency response officials and a designated production team member should be on-site and have the ability to shut down the event, should there be a need for it.

The task force said large events, like Astroworld, should have a permit before they take place.

However, they added that event permit rules across Texas are inconsistent. So now they’re calling for a universal permitting template for the state.

Officials said there were no permits obtained for Astroworld Fest.