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Austin City Limits Music Festival organizers are offering refunds to fans who feel unsafe to attend in light of recent events. The festival made the announcement following the tragic mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday (Oct. 1).
ACL 2017 runs across two weekends, Oct. 6-8 and Oct. 13-15.
The festival, which takes place at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, and draws more than 450,000 people each year. According to Austin360, there have been only two requests for refunds as of Tuesday (Oct. 3). The festival draws a wide range of acts from a variety of music genres, with Jay Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Killers, Gorillaz and more slated to appear at the 2017 event.
Country stars set to perform include Luke Combs, Brothers Osborne, Devin Dawson, Tucker Beathard and Lukas Nelson. Combs and Bros. Osborne both played Route 91 Festival prior to the shooting.
Even before the mass shooting in Las Vegas, ACL Festival had ensured that security would be tight, with safety a top priority. Interim police chief Brian Manley says that police officers will have a strong presence at the festival. Umbrellas, cigarettes and blow-up furniture are banned from the event this year. There will also be restrictions on what size bag can be brought in, and fans should anticipate pat-downs and bag searches when they approach the gate.
The Faces and Stories of the Route 91 Victims
“As you can imagine, I’m not going to go into specifics of what you will see or what you will not see,” Manley tells the Austin American Statesman. “We will have plenty of officers that will be visible, but we will also have plenty that will not be visible, strategically placed, that will only come out if necessary to address any specific incidents.”
The shooting in Las Vegas left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 crowd below his Mandalay Bay hotel room, where fans gathered to watch Jason Aldean‘s headlining set. Jake Owen was backstage when the shooting occurred, but was not physically harmed.
“I think it’s our duty as entertainers out here in the world to stand up [to] this sort of thing,” he tells tells CBS News. “They can’t keep us down. We’re not going to live in fear, not going to continue to do this, because I think part of being entertainers is bringing happiness to people.”
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
http://tasteofcountry.com/austin-city-limits-festival-refunds-las-vegas-shooting/
