Mutiny Festival in Portsmouth, England was canceled Sunday following the deaths of two attendees.
18-year-old Georgia Jones and 20-year-old Tommy Cowan are "believed to be" related to a drug reaction, the Guardianreported Monday. Before the cancelation, Saturday attendees claimed on social media that the festival grounds suffered a free drinking water shortage later in the afternoon. Festival organizers, however, have denied this.
In a "harm prevention alert" to attendees over the weekend, a festival rep confirmed that organizers were "aware" of a "dangerous high strength or bad batch substance" that had been distributed on festival grounds. "We strongly urge you to not take any substances whatsoever and to report any symptoms of illness/discomfort immediately to medical, welfare, security, or the safeguarding team," the alert said. Monday, local authorities confirmed that three men had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in supplying class A drugs at Mutiny.
This year's edition of Mutiny featured Craig David, Idris Elba, Dizzee Rascal, Sean Paul, and more on the lineup. Updates on refund information can be found here.
As many have pointed out in the wake of these two deaths, no tolerance policies at music festivals are an idiotic idea. The right path, arguably, is to ensure that all festivals are equipped with testing tents. The reality is of course people are going to do drugs at music festivals. Instead of ignoring that, why not make sure we're all safe?
