Drones could pose a safety risk at open-air festivals

Large crowds and drones don’t mix, indeed operating a drone within 150m of open-airgatherings of more than 1000 people is illegal in the UK. As the summer festival season is drawing to a close the illegal use of drones at open air events should be considered by event organisers in the future. Drones could be used to capture imagery and potentially breach broadcast rights, they could cause injuries to festival goers or they could be used to transport illegal substances into the event. All of these issues pose a liability problem to event organisers who are responsible for the safe conduct of the event.

Drone Defence in partnership with Eclipse Digital Solutions and Crowded Space Dronescarried out a technical demonstration at a festival to measure if drones were an issue for the event. In the past this festival had been linked to drugs so now the event organisers go to considerable lengths to search the 70,000+ festival goers and all of the staff. A drone could be used to bypass all this security and deliver contraband directly into the event.

For the demonstration Drone Defence established its ‘Bronze’ level service in the festival’s Control Centre. We deployed a passive drone detection system which informed the event organisers of a drone operating near the festival. They could then pass this information to the physical security guards who could respond appropriately. In the three hours of the demonstration we recorded 27 separate drone events from a minimum of four different drones. Even as we arrived at the event we saw a DJI Mavic hovering 20m above the Control Centre.

Drone Defence and its partners can provide equipment and personnel to help protect events like this from drones. Seamlessly integrating into the control infrastructure, we can deliver increased situational awareness and effective responses to illegally flown drones.