Texas Task Force on Concert Safety Meets After Deadly Astroworld Tragedy

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott's Texas Task Force on Concert Safety held their fifth meeting, and third in-person meeting, in San Antonio Thursday. Hosted by the Alamodome, the meeting brought together public safety and industry experts, as well as expert contributors and local authorities, to continue the ongoing discussion of best practices for concert safety. The task force held their last meeting at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in Bryan on December 15 and their first in-person meeting in Arlington on December 10.
 
Texas Music Office Director Brendon Anthony led the round table discussion, bringing local area law enforcement, venue operators and members of the live music industry together to discuss progress made on developing formal recommendations and strategies so far. Conversations included the mass gathering permit process, noting that there is a potential need to assist counties in drafting such a document in areas where one is not currently in place. Venues expressed the importance of actively engaging with promoters, as well as breaking down the challenges and processes of shutting down an event that is in-progress. Further discussion pertained to crowd management, event safety, and emergency response.
 
Governor Abbott launched the task force on November 10 in response to the tragedy at Astroworld Festival in Houston that killed 10 concertgoers and injured over 300. The task force is led by Texas Music Office Director Brendon Anthony and consists of safety experts, law enforcement, fire fighters, state agencies, music industry leaders, and others. The task force is holding these meetings to analyze concert safety and develop ways to enhance security at live music events in Texas. Following these meetings, the task force will produce a report of recommendations and strategies to ensure concert safety and protect concertgoers.