Magnetic World attendees report long lines, safety concerns 

Attendees at Magnetic World Music Festival reported poor security and organization, as well as other issues that left them feeling unsafe at the Sept. 25 and 26 music festival.

The music festival was held at the Garrison Grounds, featuring artists including Sexyy Red, Khalid, Swae Lee, Akon and Ne-Yo. Weekend tickets to the festival cost between $282 and $750. 

Katie Boswell, a student at Saint Mary’s University, attended both nights and says security presence was low and disorganized.

On Friday night, a woman in front of Boswell was told she could not bring the contents of her backpack into the venue past security because it was over the festival’s size limit. According to Boswell, the woman then started screaming.

“She said, verbatim, ‘you can’t take my crack away, you can’t take my crack away,’” Boswell says.

Boswell says there was not enough security to man the gate and kick the woman out. While checking her bag, the gate was left empty, and people in front of Boswell walked in without getting scanned or checked.

“There was no one escorting her off the premises. There’s no one even making sure that people that were getting kicked out were getting kicked out, so nobody was leaving,” Boswell says. “It was like a zoo.”

Magnetic World has been running in Halifax for four years, with Dalhousie University promoting the festival for students from the beginning as part of their attempt to reduce street parties on homecoming weekend. 

The festival is organized by Beta Entertainment, the same company which is partnered with Dal and the Dalhousie Student Union for DalFest and SnoFest.

Dal and Magnetic World did not respond to requests for comment.

As Sexyy Red was playing around 9:00 p.m. on Friday, the line was still packed and not moving. Many ticket-holders never made it into the venue.

Magnetic World released a statement on Instagram after the first night, addressing the issues,saying they adjusted the entrance process and urging festival-goers to get there early for the second day. 

“The safety and experience of our guests is always our top priority,” read the statement.

Gabby Ritchie, a Dalhousie psychology student, paid $332 for a general admission “plus” pass for the weekend.

“There was too little security … there wasn’t a lot of crowd control,” Ritchie says. “A lot of people were being pushed up against the barricade.”

Ritchie says the festival’s issues were made worse by its scale, with the festival’s organizers not stepping up to Magnetic World’s scale and hype. 

“They brought big names. You can’t bring big names and not have the organization to back it up,” she says.

The Halifax Regional Police were at and around the festival on both days and made 11 liquor-related arrests at the festival.

Dal commerce student Alice Southall attended the event on its second night. She says performers repeatedly stopped their sets, threatening to end the show if guests did not move away from the stage.

“It’s so packed that when someone would fall back, everyone would fall back, and people would fall to the ground,” she says.

Southall left the event early. It took her half an hour to make it out of the crowd, and she says she saw many people “panic attack crying” while trying to leave.

At one point, a girl beside her dropped to the ground. Her friends picked her up, and security was nowhere to be seen. Southall says she saw four people pass out. 

Southall says many people around her held their phones high, as cell service was spotty. She held her friend’s hand all night, fearing they would be separated and unable to contact each other. Southall recalls getting elbowed and hit by people whipping sweaters. 

She says the drink tents sold out of alcohol early in the night. 

“You can’t even attribute that to people being over-served, because there was no beer,” she says.