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Crowd safety in festival season | Vietnam Today
Crowd safety in festival season | Vietnam Today
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0:00
And now, in the focus of this hour, we
0:02
take a closer look at the rapid growth
0:04
of festival crowds around the world, the
0:06
pressures this is creating, and how
0:08
authorities are responding. And now, it
0:11
is true that crowds at major festivals
0:13
are becoming evidently larger than
0:15
before. And for instance, at the recent
0:17
Thailand Songkran Festival, nearly 5
0:20
million people joined the celebrations.
0:21
And well, in Vietnam, the 2026 Huong
0:24
Pagoda Festival welcomed around 140,000
0:27
visitors in its opening days. And so,
0:29
now this begs the question, what is
0:31
driving this surge, and why are
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festivals becoming larger than ever
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before? Well, Phoebe, in many ways, this
0:38
is bound to happen. Now, today,
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festivals are no longer just local
0:43
celebrations. They are becoming major
0:45
economic and social events, and this
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transformation is being driven by
0:50
multiple [music] factors.
0:51
First of all, rapid urbanization is
0:55
concentrating more people into cities.
0:58
Meanwhile, cheaper flights and regional
1:00
travel are making festivals [music] more
1:02
accessible.
1:04
Governments are also promoting festivals
1:06
to boost tourism.
1:08
>> [music]
1:08
>> And at the same time, social media is
1:10
turning local celebrations into global
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attractions.
1:14
But that has proven difficult for
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infrastructure to keep up, as many of
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these events take place in old
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districts, narrow [music] streets, or
1:21
temporary venues. In these environments,
1:24
capacity limits are quickly reached.
1:27
>> [music]
1:27
>> As density increases, pressure also
1:29
builds. In many places, celebration is
1:32
scaling faster [music] than
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infrastructure. And when that imbalance
1:36
grows, the risks can escalate rapidly.
1:40
Now, [music] as festivals expand into
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larger public events, cities are now
1:45
facing growing pressure to manage
1:47
[music] not only attendance, but safety.
1:50
From religious festivals to urban
1:52
celebrations and tourism hotspots, more
1:54
people are gathering in spaces that are
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often not designed for such volumes. And
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as crowd density rises, so does the need
2:02
for stronger safety and measures.
2:08
With tourism surging across many
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destinations,
2:11
authorities are under growing pressure
2:13
to ensure celebrations remain safe.
2:17
Recent crowd disasters have also
2:19
highlighted what can happen when
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overcrowding, limited movement, and poor
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crowd control collide.
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My daughter shouted, "Mother, save me."
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But I could not save her because I was
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stuck in the crowd and she got crushed
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and died.
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As a result, many governments are
2:39
shifting their focus from reactive
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emergency response to prevention.
2:44
In Seoul, officials now use AI-powered
2:47
CCTV systems to monitor crowd density in
2:50
real time.
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In the past, we determined the crowd
2:54
density with our own eyes. However, now
2:56
we are utilizing a crowd-detecting CCTV
2:59
system equipped with artificial
3:01
intelligence video analysis
3:02
capabilities. This helps to reduce human
3:05
judgment errors.
3:09
Vietnam is also adopting similar
3:10
approaches. At this year's Perfume
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Pagoda Festival, AI surveillance systems
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were deployed to maintain safety and
3:17
order.
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Applying information technology and
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deploying surveillance camera systems,
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especially AI, has been one of the
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breakthrough steps in ensuring security
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and public order, while also reducing
3:30
the need for human manpower.
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As festivals continue to expand, the
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challenge is no longer simply attracting
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crowds, but understanding and managing
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them before danger escalates.
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As festivals continue to grow, how
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cities plan and respond will determine
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whether these events remain sustainable
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in the years ahead. And so to delve
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deeper into this, we are now joined by
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Paul Wertheimer, a crowd safety expert
4:01
with decades of experience investigating
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major incidents and advising on event
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management. Mr. Wertheimer, thank you
4:08
for joining us. Now first, from a crowd
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psychology perspective, what are the
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most important principles that cities
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should understand when planning a
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large-scale festivals?
4:22
Well,
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uh communities need to understand that a
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managed crowd is a safe crowd.
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Uh crowds should not be left to their
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own devices. More often than not, it is
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not the crowd that is the problem, but
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the environment in which it is placed.
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And I would point out that live events
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attract different crowd cultures
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with varying values, abilities, and
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expectations.
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So you can't treat
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all crowds the same way.
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You have to understand the culture of
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the crowd for specific types of events,
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whether it's uh
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live entertainment, a concert, a
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festival, a political rally.
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Understanding the crowd
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helps you create a safe environment.
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Yes, and now as festivals grow in size,
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what are the most common mistakes
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authorities make when trying to manage
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crowds?
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Main mistakes include failing to
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recognize uh the common errors that
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trigger
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crowd incidents and disasters,
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uh inappropriate venues, overcrowding,
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standing room environments, poorly
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trained or untrained security or crowd
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managers, no effective emergency plan,
5:55
inappropriate venues
5:58
uh for the type of event that's going to
6:00
occur. That might mean too small, too
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difficult to reach,
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failing to require detailed risk
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assessments, crowd management plans, and
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emergency plans if something goes wrong.
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And now finally, what practical
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strategies can governments adopt to both
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support the expansion of festival and
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ensure public safety in the long term?
6:30
Most importantly, probably, is to
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develop standards and laws
6:35
specifically addressing event crowd
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safety. Most communities where live
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entertainment or special events are in a
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growth period failed to have the
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necessary rules and laws in place to
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protect the public. That needs to be
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codified so that events are consistently
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performed and judged in a consistent
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manner.
7:03
Most crowd disasters
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are preventable. That's the tragedy of
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all of this.
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So, a local community needs to have a
7:13
trained crowd management detail and
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assigns emergency
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decision-making
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to public safety officials, not to the
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promoter and not to the venue operator.
7:27
Because in the end,
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it's government's role to protect the
7:32
public.
7:33
Mr. Wertheimer, thank you for your
7:35
insights.
Crowd safety in festival season | Vietnam Today - Video học tiếng Anh
