The show must be regulated – Kommersant Izhevsk

In Udmurtia they propose to regulate the process of organizing cultural and entertainment public events. Deputies of the State Council of the Republic will send an appeal to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, in which they ask to determine the responsibility of concert organizers for ensuring security, to stipulate the need to inform authorities about mass events, etc. The State Council clarified that the document was prepared even before the events at Crocus City Hall ” Experts note that after the terrorist attacks, the issue of security at concert venues is becoming increasingly relevant, but regulation is not needed when organizing concerts.

At the session on March 26, the State Council of Udmurtia issued an appeal to the Chairman of the Russian Government, Mikhail Mishustin, in which deputies asked to regulate the issue of organizing and ensuring the safety of cultural and entertainment public events.

The document was presented at the session by the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Culture, Director of the National Theater of Udmurtia Andrey Uraskin. It states that the organizing process and security requirements are well established in legal acts relating to sports competitions, as well as rallies, processions, pickets and other public events. At the same time, there is no detailed legal regulation for cultural and entertainment mass events, the authors of the appeal note. Deputies list issues that have not been resolved during such events. Thus, the definition of a cultural and entertainment mass event has not been fixed.

“There are a number of points that need to be paid attention to: who has the right to hold them, where they can be held, how to prepare them and what responsibility the organizers, site owners, etc. bear, and, of course, determine the rights and obligations of participants in such events, and stipulate in what cases there may be a ban on holding. All this needs to be regulated in relation to cultural and entertainment events and combined so that everything is collected in one place and structured,” explained Andrey Uraskin.

The press service of the State Council clarified that the document was prepared even before the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and was planned for the session in advance.

The founder and director of the Ovation production center, Boris Rubinovsky, who organizes concerts and major events in Udmurtia and other regions, notes that after Nord-Ost and now Crocus City Hall, the safety issues of spectators and artists really need to be worked out.

“This is very important, of course. I agree with this. But introducing additional regulation that requires someone to coordinate the organization of an event at a concert venue seems unnecessary to me. Holding a concert at a site that is not specially adapted for this purpose, for example at a stadium or a sports palace, we already coordinate with the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And if this is a specially designed premises – a palace of culture, a concert hall, then the necessary conditions for spectators and artists have already been created there, why coordinate anything. I don’t understand why the local administration should be informed about the concert,” says Mr. Rubinovsky.

He added that consumer rights are fairly well protected, and in the event of a concert or performance being postponed or canceled, even for reasons beyond the control of the organizer, money for purchased tickets is promptly returned. At the same time, the costs incurred by the organizers in this case are not reimbursed in any way; these issues could be regulated, the expert believes.

According to the head of the Izhevsk concert agency Rusgastroli, Vladimir Nosov, after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, they held a meeting with the administration of the Aksion cultural center, where concerts are held, on strengthening security and safety.

“We decided that we would request data, for example, on the movers who are involved in preparing the event, in order to understand who will come to us. The concert venues themselves understand how security measures can be improved and will do so; for them this, of course, is an additional cost,” says Mr. Nosov.

Additional regulation of the organization of events can lead to excessive bureaucratization of the process, so it is necessary to discuss such issues directly with market participants – concert organizers and venue owners, so that the measures are not excessive, the expert believes. He fears that similar appeals from deputies at the federal level may also be considered without the involvement of industry representatives and the requirements will be tightened, which, in turn, will affect the costs of the concert organizers, and ultimately ticket prices. At the same time, Vladimir Nosov admits that after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, additional security measures may indeed be taken.

Director of the Udmurt State Philharmonic Albert Kochurov notes that their institution has taken the necessary security measures, there is an emergency button and another portable button for the administrator, who is in the hall or in the foyer during the concert. “Now each institution independently resolves such issues, but perhaps it makes sense to centralize such requirements when organizing cultural events,” the expert believes.

Let us note that earlier today State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin instructed the relevant committees work through the issues strengthening the security of cultural and public events. Chairman of the Culture Committee Elena Yampolskaya said that amendments regulating performing activities are already being discussed.

Mikhail Krasilnikov