It is with immense sadness that Kiwiburn acknowledges the tragic deaths at two music festivals over the New Year period in Aotearoa. A 29-year-old passed away at Hidden Valley in Matakana, followed by a 19-year-old festival at Rhythm and Vines near Gisborne. Also at Rhythm and Vines, a seasoned sound engineer suffered a medical event which resulted in his death, Kiwiburn would like to take this moment to both express our sympathies, and to recognise the importance of staying safe at any festival or community events.
Kiwiburn offers our condolences to the whanau of all affected and the organisers of these festivals. We acknowledge the difficult position first aid responders and other festival-goers find themselves in when they discover unresponsive people and are unable to revive them. Everyone works hard got keep people safe at mass events, and we understand the heartbreak when something so tragic does happen.
To those of you attending Kiwiburn – and indeed any event over the summer – we ask you to please look after yourselves and those around you. We also remind you that Know Your Stuff will be on the Paddock to ensure you are able to test anything you intend on ingesting.
Lastly, we highly recommend you check out Kiwiburn’s Survivial Guide, (an updated version for 20201 will come out shortly) and we have a blog post this week with more advice and information about staying safe on the Paddock.
