# Ottawa Bluesfest outdoor stage collapses in storm - 1 injured



## cpf (Jul 17, 2011)

*Ottawa Bluesfest outdoor stage collapses in storm - 2 injured*



Storm topples stage at Ottawa Bluesfest - Canada - CBC News

Luckily only 2 people were injured. Of course, it could easily have been different. 

When I heard the news story the first thing that came to mind was Alberta stage collapse kills 1 - Canada - CBC News this tragically similar case from 2 years ago. We'll have to see where the investigation goes in this event to see what went wrong.


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## JohnHuntington (Jul 17, 2011)

*Re: Ottawa Bluesfest outdoor stage collapses in storm - 2 injured*

Video up now. Scary!


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## techieman33 (Jul 17, 2011)

That is scary, especially after all the changes that have been made in canada after the last collapse. At least no one seems to have been seriously hurt or killed this time.


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 18, 2011)

Here's a link to the Ottawa Sun's coverage. The early, and more speculative, reports from last night seem to have faded away.


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## JohnHuntington (Jul 18, 2011)

I collated a bunch of stuff I found here. I also have links there to about four other severe weather incidents on outdoor shows, and talk about one show in Kansas where they have onsite meteorologists. 

Let's be careful out there!

John


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## techieman33 (Jul 19, 2011)

Anyone know whos stage it is?


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 19, 2011)

It was a Mega-Stage III from Groupe Berger out of Montreal. Looking at the specs it would appear to be rated for some pretty serious weather.


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## JohnHuntington (Jul 19, 2011)

sk8rsdad said:


> It was a Mega-Stage III from Groupe Berger out of Montreal. Looking at the specs it would appear to be rated for some pretty serious weather.


 
Aha, thanks for the info! The Mega-Stage III "Basic Setup" shows ratings for:
Wind resistance (steady) 80 km/h or 50 mph
Wind gusts resistance (with wind screens) 120 km/h or 75 mph

Winds at the Ottawa airport, which appears to be a few miles away, gusted to 60MPH, so that's pretty close to the rated maximum. 

I guess the lawyers are lining up already... 

John


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 19, 2011)

JohnHuntington said:


> I guess the lawyers are lining up already...
> 
> John



Maybe not. We're not as quick to sue north of the border because the courts work differently, and our health care system takes a lot of the sting out of personal injury.

Bluesfest has already provided a remedy for ticketholders. Groupe Berger has already said the stage is destined for the scrap metal recyclers and they are insured for this sort of calamity. The question to get settled is who pays for all the damaged gear provided by 5 or 6 suppliers, and the bands. Most of that will get sorted out between insurance companies. If that fails then there may be negotiations between the staging company and the other parties. The courts will only get engaged if those negotiations break down.


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## JohnHuntington (Jul 26, 2011)

Looks like it just takes a little longer for Candians to sue 
Family Sues Over Jamboree Collapse | Pollstar - The Concert Hotwire

A woman is suing from the 2009 incident...


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## photoatdv (Aug 2, 2011)

The following comment was posted on a radio show site.

MegaStage Survivor posted on 07/19/2011 06:18 PM
If high winds were the only cause they must engineer the hell out of the port-a-potties that were all standing in the park after the storm. And the vendors tents. And the other four stages. And the garbage cans. I am a technician who was helping the one Berger employee cut steel cables used to replace straps that had been cut the night The Black Keys played. Those cut straps allowed the walls to flap freely. After that night Stephan Berger was pissed off at the expense of the straps and, he ordered his guy to use steel so that we COULDN'T cut the walls away so easily. In my opionion if we had gotten the walls off in time the stage would have stayed up. Also, I have read a quote from Stephan Berger saying that we'll never know the true force of the wind. He must have forgotten the weather station on top of the stage that was constantly monitored by his employee. I and many other local technicians have been saying that the Mega Stage is a death trap for years, and another collapse inevitable. I have seen Berger employees literaly grind pieces off the steel braces holding the stage up to get a better fit. The NCC fired them from providing stages for them last year because the stage in Major's Hill Park (that I worked on) was deficient. It is a miracle no one was killed. If the stage had blown forward the death toll wpould have been in the hundreds.

The article can be found here News/Talk Leader CJAD 800 :: Questions raised over Ottawa stage collapse - CJAD Local News :: CJAD Local News.

Obviously I cannot speak to the accuracy of this comment, but if it's the case I smell big lawsuits. If the owner does not want to have to pay to replace cut straps, then replace it with something with a quick release. Replacing it with something harder to cut totally defeats the safety mechanism of being able to free the walls.

I have had to cut down banners from a roof during an unexpected storm, and believe me the last thing you want is to be trying to figure out how to cut it. This is especially true if the whatever has to be cut from the truss or on a lift/ladder.


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## JohnHuntington (Aug 4, 2011)

More on the Big Valley lawsuit:
Charges Filed In Jamboree Stage Collapse | Pollstar - The Concert Hotwire


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 7, 2012)

Post mortem (fortunately there was no morte to post) on the stage collapse blames it on the weather. It's interesting to read what the event organizers have done this year to mitigate a repeat of last year's incident.


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## JohnD (Jul 13, 2012)

If anyone is interested in pics of this years stage, there is this thread from SoundForums:
A quick peek around Bluesfest 2012
Interesting that even tho last years collapse was "just because of the wind", that this year they are using a different stage provider.


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## sk8rsdad (Nov 17, 2012)

There was a follow-up article in the Ottawa Citizen today.

Stage fright


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