For an 11th year, the event security at the metal music festival long weekend Bloodstock in rural south Derbyshire has been by Showsec.
Project Manager Tim Allatt said: “Showsec enjoys a great relationship with Bloodstock and its festival-goers. Our staff really buy into this event and the good nature of the customers. The praise to Showsec from the MC at the end of the Megadeth set on the Sunday night received a well-deserved round of applause and high fives from the Bloodstock crowd.”
This year, the team provided security and searches at all entrances (camp sites, main arena, VIP and disabled areas) and covered front and back of house, plus the build and break process and pit crews for all stages at Catton Hall.
Tim said: “The staff worked hard throughout the build, the four show days and into the break. Weekend camping tickets were sold out, which put the search operation under greater pressure than ever and the whole search team worked hard to get all of the public in as quickly as possible, while maintaining an effective search operation to ensure safety remained the highest priority.”
The main stage pit staff were led by Linzi Widdowson for the first time. Linzi has been a part of Showsec’s Bloodstock team since the beginning, so this was a step up for her in recognition of the relationship she has helped build up with the festival organisers over the years. The pit team safely hauled a record-breaking 711 crowd surfers over the barrier on Saturday during Municipal Waste’s set, and over 500 during Hatebreed’s performance straight after, making for two of the busiest hours ever at Bloodstock.
On the Sunday, the main stage pit crew got involved in one of the highlights of the weekend by taking part in the “Newport Helicopter” during the final song of Skindred’s set. As the contract security firm says, it’s testament to the great relationship with the festival that the staff can be involved and that its customers appreciate their security playing a part of their weekend, while still working hard.
Adam Gregory, Director of Bloodstock said afterwards: “We put our trust in the industry leaders when we engage with Showsec, and could never think of using anyone else. The level of professionalism and courtesy extended to both crew and fans alike makes this relationship work so well.”
Tim added: “Our staff reacted well to any challenges and incidents throughout the weekend, with the safety and well-being of our customers as the highest priority. The stewards, SIA staff and supervisors should take credit for their efforts over a very long weekend. This includes the Logistics team who ensured everyone was accredited correctly, fed and watered for five days and nights. We are looking forward to continue working with the Bloodstock directors to make each year bigger, better and something for the customers (and our staff) to look forward to.”
