Safety

Please take a look at all the medical and welfare services we have on-site to help keep yourself and your mates safe!
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Packing List: Come Prepared!

• We’d recommend bringing a small stocked first aid kit including plasters, basic medication like; painkillers, antihistamines, antiseptic cream, sun cream, after sun and insect repellant.
• If you have pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes make sure you bring what you need for your time on-site and see our prescribed medicine section below. 
• Refillable water bottle.
• Clothing for all weather eventualities (and sun cream!)
• And everything else that you need in order to be warm and dry in a field for several days and nights.

The most important things you can do

• Eat, sleep, hydrate - repeat!
• Know where Medical and Welfare are located and that you can ask anyone in a tabard (stewards, security) for help at any time. 
• Look after your friends
• If you choose to experiment with drugs or alcohol, understand the risks and educate yourself first. The Loop will have a presence onsite to offer drug education. (They will not have a drug testing service this year).

Services available to you

• 24hr Welfare Centres (Hilltop and Downtown) with support workers and advice services
• 24hr Medical Centres (Hilltop and Downtown)
• Talking services support in the Campsite Villages provided by partners 
• The Safer Spaces tent provides a supportive space to talk about sexual safety.
• Welfare Teams in the campsites offering advice and support
• 24hr campsite help points in every campsite
• Stewards and security visible throughout the festival

MEDICAL CENTRE

‍We will have a 24-hour medical centre for first aid support, plus an on-site field-hospital staffed with medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and mental health practitioners. Medical outreach and response is carried out by foot patrols and 4x4 ambulances.

The medical centres are equipped to deal with almost all medical emergencies, right through to minor illnesses and injuries. They function in a similar way to many A&E departments across the country and are supported by festival ambulance buggies and paramedics.

There is a pharmacy service available at the medical centre where you can buy over the counter items such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters, tampons and condoms.
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HELP IN AN EMERGENCY

‍If there is an emergency, the nearest steward or security member will call for assistance immediately, via a radio. If you need medical help and you are able to make your own way to the medical centre, then please do so. All stewards, security and front of house staff will be able to direct you if you don’t know where it is.  We would request that you notify a member of staff if you have a medical emergency, rather than calling 999, as we are better placed to respond quickly than an off-site ambulance.
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ON-SITE MEDICAL BUGGIES

‍Festival Ambulance Buggies operate around the site. They are all-terrain ambulances and will be dispatched for emergency assistance. Any emergency calls received will be triaged by medical staff who will prioritise life-threatening calls over sprained ankles or minor injuries. 

Foot patrols will be sent into busier areas such as the arena, where vehicle movement is limited, supported by vehicles if these are needed.
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GETTING OFF-SITE FOR MEDICAL REASONS

If you require transportation to a hospital in an ambulance the medical team will arrange this for you, either in a festival ambulance or via the local hospital ambulance service.

During your consultation, you may be advised to attend hospital for an X-ray or other tests not offered on-site. We can’t transport non-ambulance patients to a hospital, so you’ll need to make your own way by taxi from the Pick-Up/Drop Off point, or a lift. If you are unable to get to the Pick Up/Drop Off point, please speak to the medical or welfare teams who will do their best to assist you where possible. Life-threatening calls will be prioritised, so depending on the situation there may be a wait.

If you have to leave without your belongings please ask a friend to look after or collect your things. If someone needs to access the site to collect your things, they will need to do so by midday on Monday when the show closes. On arrival, they should speak to a Gate Manager who will be able to help.

If you need to leave the site to get to a local pharmacy or hospital you can do so! The festival gates open at 10 am each day and close at 9:30 pm. You can leave at any time but remember you will not be able to get back in after 9:30 pm.
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Winchester A&E

‍The nearest A&E department is in Winchester:
Hampshire County Hospital Emergency Department
Romsey Rd
Winchester
Hampshire
SO22 5DG
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WELFARE CENTRES

For our citizens who need to make use of a calm environment there are Welfare Centres on site where there are trained staff on hand to help. Here you’ll find confidential help, counselling services and advice for any emotional problems. The welfare teams have staff trained to provide professional support and advice on a wide range of issues, including drug and alcohol abuse, addiction, bereavement, eating disorders.
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SAFER SPACES

We wish for everyone at our show to feel safe and enjoy their weekend, and to not experience harassment, unsolicited attention, sexual violence or domestic abuse. We have teamed up with Safer Spaces Now, who will have a space at Boomtown to support you with a calm, sensory area with experienced professional

There are a lot of measures in place to help keep everyone safe, including our security teams who assist in ensuring things run smoothly for all of us. They are all Security Industry Authority (SIA) trained and are here to help, listen, advise, take reports and deal appropriately with difficult situations. 

You can find them easily in their hi-vis tabards throughout the city, in all campsites and campsite help points, stages and venues, where their primary objective is to keep us all safe and secure.

Below is an overview of what they do to look after us all, some tips on how we can help them do their challenging job and some advice on how to keep yourself and your stuff safe.

GETTING AROUND

So you can make your way around our site quickly and see as many artists and shows as possible, security keeps their eye on crowd flow! Sometimes they might:

• Stop people entering an area or stage if it has reached capacity, or you don’t have the right wristband for a specific area
• Shut down venues
• Implement one-way systems
• Cordon off areas
• Remove tents if they are blocking fire lanes

You can help them by listening & following their instructions. Security staff are very friendly and you are more than welcome to ask them why they have implemented a venue close/one way system but if they do look busy they may not be able to answer straight away.

CAMPSITES

To keep an eye on everyone’s safety and wellbeing as well as ensure everyone gets the chance to rest up, refuel and have some much-needed sleep, security are on hand to:

• Provide support to anyone who may feel they have been put in an uncomfortable position by any anti-social behaviour
• Provide a presence across campsites to check for suspicious behaviour and protect against opportunist tent theft
• Ask the more boisterous amongst us to move if they are in a designated quiet area or if it’s the early hours
• Switch off rogue and prohibited sound systems

THEY CAN ALSO...

• Stop people from putting themselves and others in danger by climbing on sets or equipment
• Stop tagging and vandalism of sets
• Confiscate any item that is on the prohibited items list
• Confiscate any alcohol brought into the festival that is over the official limit
• Implement no smoking regulations
• Enforce the festival policy on overt drug taking. Security staff are briefed to intervene if they see drug taking. They can confiscate drugs found, issue a warning, or remove you to evictions. Any person seen overtly taking drugs will have their name checked against any prior drug taking/possession onsite, if you are seen taking/possessing drugs on more then 1 occasion you will be automatically evicted
• Restrain anyone who is a danger to themselves or others
• Carry out searches in cars, campervans, bag and outer clothing person searches

SECURITY CANNOT:

• Confiscate drugs without recording the process.
• Under no circumstances can they carry out any form of intimate body searching of an individual. This can only be carried out by the police. There will be police onsite supporting our search procedures, who may conduct intimate body searches where they deem it to be necessary.
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EVICTIONS:

If you find yourself in the unlikely position of being taken to evictions… don’t expect the worst. This is a review, not an automatic judgement!
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ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR FROM SECURITY

Security must follow the rules and respect everyone on site. Boomtown is a community which celebrates diversity and does not tolerate any form of intimidation, violent or threatening behaviour or prejudice or anti-social behaviour.

If at any point you feel that Security staff are not behaving in an appropriate way please DO report it whilst you are on site, so we can ensure it is followed up and we can take affirmative action immediately. You can do this by reporting it to the Info Point and the Campsites Help Points, or via the Boomtown app. You can also request that a different security staff member requests assistance from a manager to deal with the situation. To help us investigate this fully, if possible please make a note of the following details:

• SIA / ID number (this is found on security’s hi vis jacket)
• Tabard number
• Location
• Date / time
• Physical description of the staff member

Post show Complaints

If you do not feel able to report a situation you were faced with onsite, we will absolutely investigate your feedback after the show. However, please note that it is much harder for us to investigate and take action to deal with retrospective complaints or issues, except where a matter can be raised as a criminal offence with the police or is subject to civil legal action. It is almost impossible to follow up individual incidents when we are no longer on the ground and they can take months to resolve and may result in an unsatisfactory conclusion.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM CRIME

Although we don’t  see many theft or violent crimes at the festival, please still take these provisions to keep yourself safe from opportunists and tent thieves:

• Lock and empty your car (do not leave possessions on display)
• If you have valuables at the festival - use the lockers for storing cash, keys and phones
• Don’t carry large volumes of cash (our cash free wristband system should alleviate the need for you to bring this). 
• Keep any valuables out of sight and in a secure place 
• Get to know your neighbours and create a community spirit to look out for each other.

Reporting a crime:

• You can report any suspicious, anti-social or unwelcome behaviour to us through the Boomtown app, at the arena Information Point and Campsite Help Points, or to a steward or member of security.  
• If you need to report a theft in progress, find your nearest security or steward or report it straight into Campsite Help Points who will inform security and provide assistance
• If you have had items stolen from your tent or person, let us know at the Campsite Help Points or the Information Point, so we can support you and help you with contacting the police.

NATURISM

What is Naturism?
Naturism is a lifestyle of non-sexual social nudity, and the cultural movement which advocates for and defends that lifestyle. Both may also be referred to as nudism.

We understand and respect everyone’s right to freedom of expression. We are an inclusive festival and actively promote people to express and celebrate themselves and we have no problem with you attending the event as a Naturist as long as you conduct yourselves whilst on the festival site within the confines of the law. We will do our best to facilitate your beliefs and respect it during our event. We unfortunately cannot speak for any other ticket holders who may deem they have been caused harassment, alarm or distress. In order to keep everyone happy we have devised a Naturist consent form that you can take round with you on site in case you are questioned.

All our security staff and volunteers will be briefed on our Naturism policy and will be aware of the consent form. 

If you are a Naturist and wish to attend our event nude please contact info@boomtownfair.co.uk 

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