Sunset Music Festival fans can rest easy after The Tampa Sports Authority (TSA) voted Monday to retain the event in 2017, with conditions.
In a unanimous decision, the board approved a motion allowing the festival, which takes place Memorial Day weekend, to continue planning so as long as they continue to not just implement current best practices but also work towards a hefty list of recommended life safety improvements including an expanded festival footprint, an increase in water stations, and as well as increased medical staff, law enforcement presence and festival ambassadors.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Sunset Music Festival's John Santoro expressed his organization's commitment to working with partners, Tampa Police & Fire and festival goers to provide the safest environment at "next year's festival and for many years to come."
Another special meeting regarding the matter, if necessary, wouldn't happen until October according to officials.
The electronic dance music festival has been under extra speculation since two attendees died after being transported to the hospital from the festival at Raymond James Stadium in late May. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Autopsies found MDMA and MDA in the blood of the deceased, 22-year-old Alex Haynes and and 21-year-old Katie Bermudez. The board and a representative from the Tampa Fire Department would not confirm that in Monday's meetings.
During the hour-long meeting, TSA president/CEO Eric Hart worked through a report reviewing the event's best practices, which already included, but were not limited to, amnesty bins (dump whatever, no questions asked), drug sniffing dogs from private companies plus water stations and 17,000 water bottles distributed at the front of festival stages.
Over 20 additional measures proposed include public gate announcements, larger cooling areas, and a larger command center connected to a closed circuit TV system.
Nine speakers, including Santoro, addressed the board all in favor of keeping the festival in town citing its effect on local businesses and its role as a tool to help entice young people, including "the creative class," to not just visit, but to live in Tampa Bay. Hope Larson, a four-time attendee who recently moved to Tampa, lauded the security, but also suggested that a more robust drug and alcohol awareness program could be implemented .
There were no speakers against retaining the festival. A report distributed to attendees contained over a dozen signed letters and emails in support of the festival. The report only contained one email against retaining SMF. It was penned by "Proud Floridan," who claims to be a nurse at nearby St. Joseph's Hospital where the anonymous author claims to have witnessed "teenagers and young adults who had overdosed" and "became dangerously dehydrated."
In all, 57 attendees were taken to hospitals by city and county rescue workers this year. Ambulance runs rose from 51 to 56 this year, while attendance was also up 6-percent to 51,000 people. Organizers did work with private companies to bring in drug sniffing dogs to help keep illegal substances out, and also arrests dropped to a three-year low.
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This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2016.
