Every summer it happens – apart from last summer of course. Teens across the land pick up their GCSE results, pack up their bags and tents, and head straight off to their first ever festival. In the south this is Reading, in the north it’s Leeds. Both are run by Festival Republic, and they’re two of the very few that allow unsupervised, unaccompanied under-18s to attend.
But does allowing young teens into festivals risk lives? Senior Coroner Kevin McLoughlin certainly thinks it does. Last week, Leeds City Council met to decide whether this was something they should continue to allow to happen when they next issue a licence to Festival Republic. Their discussion and decision happened in response to a ‘prevention of future deaths’ report from Coroner McLoughlin, with this as a key recommendation. This, in turn, was in response to the death of Anya Buckley.
In August 2019, the last summer such things could happen, Anya was one of thousands of under-18s to head off with friends to her first ever festival, from her Oldham home to Leeds. Unlike her friends, however, Anya never made it home. Along with so many young people at festivals that weekend she’d taken drugs, and this decision tragically cost Anya her life. She died just after 3.30am on August 24, 2019.
Ever since her death, Anya’s family has been campaigning to make festivals safer places for young people, to prevent the same happening to anyone else’s child. This has included petitioning for the age limit to be raised to 18 – as well as important measures like better water facilities and on-site drug checking services. As Anya’s mum Lisa says, “You can’t go into a pub and drink legally until you are 18. The bigger risk at a festival is the amount of drugs in circulation.”
However hard festival organisers try – and whether they could try harder, or do it all differently, is another discussion for another day – drugs will always find their way into festivals. A report from that last summer of festivals found that more than half of festival goers took drugs while they were there. Research also shows that risk-taking peaks in adolescence between 13 and 16 years, meaning managing risky decisions is still really tricky for these young teens heading off to a festival, and finding drugs there in the mix. Would raising the age limit to 18 give them the slightly more sensible edge they need to make any choices more safely?
Well, it’s not going to happen, not this year, and not in Leeds anyway – or in Reading. Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, was, perhaps predictably, never in favour. Leeds City Council has put a number of strengthened safety requirements in place for them to get their license, which is to be applauded, but stopped short of raising the age limit – this year at least. There’ll be wristbands for those 16 and 17 year-olds (who keep them on), and they’ll review this decision in future, ‘if necessary’.
So that’s something. And let’s just hope it doesn’t take the loss of another young life this summer to force Festival Republic’s hand.
In the meantime, check out our website for festival safety advice, watch our festivals FAQs, and have a great, safe summer.
