Age Restrictions

Ok, I recently went on the Download 2006 festival website forum page. One of the threads on there was "Make download a 16+ festival?"! I really dont see the point in this because most of the people that cause trouble at festivals are the older ones! Also, some people said its because the younger
people dont know the layout and stuff. But surely not knowing a lot about the the festival, the layout and stuff comes from your amount of festival experience, not your age. And how could they GET that knowledge without coming to the festival? Surely if you set an age limit for that reason, all it'd do would make even more people who don't know a lot about the festival, the layout and stuff! What do you think? I think its madness not allowing someone to do something like go to a gig or festival just because of their age! I mean, they have a rule sayin that if you underage then you have to have an adult accompany you anyway, so what difference does it make?!

When reading your signature, I can understand - and wouldn't blame anyways - but how do you know when the first half is over? And how do you know that the second half is not FANTASTIC, making up completely for the first half...

As a Teen, most cannot understand "age restrictions" (I couldn't) - when those grow older and maybe even up, have kids themselves, suddenly many cannot understand that they couldn't understand back then... makes sense?

There is a lot of crap coming through the side door - especially with computers, internet, media - that is unsuitable for people, especially <16... it's to protect, not to punish...

I don't suppose you could post a link?

What kind of a festival is it?

 Written by: xXemogalXx

most of the people that cause trouble at festivals are the older ones!

I remember at one festival, a friend and I ran into a 15 year old girl from a small country town who was in absolute tears. Her (older) friends had wandered off on her and she couldn't call them (being NYE the mobile network was absolutely jammed). She was drunk and in floods of tears. We looked after her until we found her mates, but she was not a happy girl.

I'm not saying that all fifteen year olds are the same, she was admittedly pretty immature...

 Written by: xXemogalXx

Also, some people said its because the younger
people dont know the layout and stuff. But surely not knowing a lot about the the festival, the layout and stuff comes from your amount of festival experience, not your age. And how could they GET that knowledge without coming to the festival?

Agreed. I don't think that would be seriously floated as a reason for age restrictions.. its possibly the lamest reason I have ever heard.

I have been to a few festivals now where under 18s were not allowed and it was great.

I wouldn't want my son going there until he is 16+ its not safe enough for young ones in my opinion. I wouldn't mind either if it was 18+ infact i think it should be. but again thats just my opinion but i never go to these things, i don't like big drunk crowds or live music. but i know i wouldn't be ok with my son going there till i think he is old enough to cope with it.

Strangely enough it seems to be the very young people in Edinburgh that think it's fun throwing bottles at people and harrassing them a lot when they're absolutely drunk. That doesn't mean I think it's what you're like at all, I know, just my experience.

One guess would be that a festival gets in trouble when under 16s get in trouble, and let's face it, aside from a huge police force there's no way to ensure that teenagers don't somehow get access to alcohol and drugs during a festival, there's just too much going and even if you can't bring it in or buy beer from the stalls you'll always find an 18y-old who'll get you some. So if you'd end up in a fight, or being date-raped, or "just" out on alcohol and drugs, it will be bad for the festival, and they might even be responsible for not "looking after" you properly. Just a theory, I don't know much about the legalities. But there's a thread in the help section about underaged firespinners at festivals that's quite interesting for examples of things going wrong at festivals and the sanctions from insurers.

Age restrictions are handy. They keep youngsters safe, they reduce the insurance risks for organisers, the improve the range of facilities available (for instance an 18+ restriction means no issues with alcohol getting into the wrong hands).
Best of all they allow grown ups to go about their grown up lives without the interuption/inconvenience of having kids around.
It's not as if noone provides things for kids to do, and they have plenty of years ahead of them to go to the adult events.

I'm kind of half and half on the situation.

Yes ok alot of the older ones do cause trouble.
Alot of the older ones will also be taking alot of drugs.
I would see the benifit of 16+ festival in that respect.
But I suppose this also calls for tighter security.

I see where you're comming from. I for one was a bit miffed when I saw one of the festivals advertised on here was an 18+ event.
I'm well behaved, house trained, very rarely drink and if I do its within moderation, and in general far more well behaved than most of the over 18's I know!

But, people have to drawn the line somewhere, and if thats at 18, then its fine by me. Another 3 months to go for so its not a problem
And if that line draws at 16 then so be it!

And please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you were say 17 or 18 and saw that thread I'm guessing you wouldnt give it a second look, as it would bear no affect on your presance of the festival?

I think age restrictions at festivals really depend on the type of festival it is. There are lots of family friendly festivals out there that allow all ages to go along and enjoy.

My sister and I have been taking my Nieces along to festivals since they were 4 and 6, but we picked the festivals we went to carefully.

I think age does have a bearing when it comes down to it. Some events are aimed at an older audience. Age limits are usually used to protect children/teenagers. The argument that some teenagers are more mature than others doesn't really matter to an organiser of an event. They have to draw the line somewhere.

There are laws in the UK that are age based, such as no smoking/sex below the age of 16 and no drinking below the age of 18. Event organisers have to abide by these rules and if the festival they are organising is going to be a drunken booze fest it is much easier for them to put age restrictions on the event than it is to police it to prevent underage drinking.

Face facts, we have age restrictions on a lot of things (gambling, drinking, age of consent, voting, etc). Most are there as a form of protection for children not a way of excluding them from having fun. The age limits on festivals are there for the same reason.

Another interesting point to bring up after Leeds Carling weekend, is that a 27 yr old was raped on the sunday night there. this is proof that these things can be dangerous. it calls into question the security going on there, but not only that, is (as a pretty sweeping generalisation) younger people can get pretty carried away at these things and rightly so to a degree no matter how careful you are (or what age) things like this will happen. but if you're 15 for example and going a little wild on drink/drugs/whatever at a festival without a watchfull eye these things will happen more frequently due to the oppertuntities.

i went to my first festival at 17 and this year has been my third year at leeds. however this year i've quit drinking, and so it was really different for me.

it's a minority i find that spoil it for everyone else. unfortunatly there's no real way round it.....

If I'm looking at the right festival ( Download Festival 2006 ), their news actually says that minors can go, so long as 14 and under are accompanied by an adult (however, it does say the it would be inappropriate for babies and tots) and so long as they bring proof of age.

at workhouse festival the only fest ive been at this year with any kinda probs, and even these were minor, it was the younger kids, but then its was even younger than 13/14 yr olds saometimes, even though they were pretty shitty too

the simple fact is its not about trouble makers, age has nothing to do with that

age limits are for protection, and they are a guide in a way, those who are younger and cant get by them are protected

theres always gonna be kids that get past it, and well fair play to em, you only hope they can cope with what they find

its a very difficult thing to judge because everyone is so different

ive been in places i was too young to be in really early, and i feel personally it was alright, but then if they were different places where the same age limit applied it might not have been as alright

it would be easier if you could jus run a strict "no wankers policy"

And with Download being one of the heavier festivals being mostly metal. The potential for a minor to be injured, especially in the testosterone-packed mosh pit can be cause for concern.

Though have memories of Ozzfest where this little kid, about 8-10 in a Slipknot t-shirt was holding onto his mum's leg during Tool's set. *Awwwww!*

awwwww..............the only reason i brought this up is because im planning on going next year, as a birthday present........but heres the catch, it 2 days before my birthday, so technically i wont be 16, so would they let me go or not?!

I agree some of the more heavy metal festivals need a age restriction on it if only to stop the little 14 year old emo at the back getting crushed in the mosh pit started by some huge 6ft tall biker and his mates... To me it kinda makes sense for festivals like that but i mean the important ones like Play festival yeah right...

LMAO

Btw i am a devoted metal head so i know what its like at these events and it is a bit mad for the unready and the easist way to make sure people that go there are ready is to put a age restriction in place.