Homegrown fans support evacuation
Homegrown concertgoers have thanked the event organisers for ‘‘keeping them safe’’ and evacuating them because of a security concern.
‘‘We appreciate you guys keeping us safe despite the inconvenience! Thank you,’’ wrote one concertgoer on Facebook.
‘‘Better to be safe than sorry! Appreciate you making that call rather than risk lives.
‘‘You guys put together an awesome event so cheers,’’ wrote another.
Police have also confirmed that aside from the suspected security threat and evacuation, ‘‘general behaviour at the festival was positive’’.
‘‘The number of arrests was very low,’’ said a police media team spokesperson. ‘‘I can’t see that anyone was taken into custody or charged with anything in relation to Homegrown, so it appears that it was overall a success.’’
Five thousand concertgoers at the Dub and Roots stage in Waitangi Park were evacuated about 9.20pm on Saturday after security raised concerns about an attendee. They were allowed back in after about 20 minutes.
Police yesterday said fears were raised about a man who appeared to have a far-Right tattoo and was thought to be acting suspiciously. It was this that sparked the evacuation, but it turned out the tattoo was traditional and not tied to far-Right ideology, police said.
The evacuation meant a moment’s silence was not held at the planned time at the Dub and Roots stage.
‘‘It was just completely out of our control, as it’s transpired all four other stages kept going,’’ Homegrown spokeswoman Kelly Wright said.
Earlier, attendees posted pictures to Twitter showing festivalgoers being evacuated.
Homegrown organisers confirm that they apologise for the inconvenience caused, but won’t be issuing refunds. ‘‘As the stage was only shut down for approximately 28 minutes, 10 of which were changeover, we don’t feel refunds are necessary,’’ Wright said.