Organizers take every precaution for festivals and concerts

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Hundreds injured and more than 50 killed at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. It’s an aftermath that hangs heavy as we enter the fall festival season in the Cape Fear.

“We are always refining and looking at what other changes we can make to make sure that it is a fun and safe event for people that are coming,” Ed Wolverton, Wilmington Downtown Incorporated president and CEO, said.

WDI organizes many concerts and events throughout the year. Wolverton says security is a constant concern, which is why they work hand-in-hand with the police.

“It’s a public event and it’s on public property. So there are measures that we can and do take but there are other things that we just have to realize, it’s all part of a public realm,” Wolverton said.

They also increase security.

“We also are required to have for our events, off duty police officers in addition to that, we are supplementing that with private scrutiny as well,” Wolverton said.

He says the city has a strict permitting process, which means organizers must have a certain number of police, fire and emergency personnel available.

“It’s important that they are adjusting their staff and personnel needs to account for not just the even but the area immediately around the event as well as the entire community as a whole,” Wolverton said.

Riverfest kicks off this weekend in downtown Wilmington. Laurence Nadeau, the chairman of Riverfest says “WPD has done a great job with the festival for forty years and has protocol in place for any situation and will be present all weekend.”

We also reached out to Wilmington police and the New Hanover county Sheriff’s office to talk about security, but no one was available to speak with us today. We will follow up with them tomorrow.