How Security Is Managed Promoter Shares Louisville Festival’s Procedure
Security is an important part of the Big Four Arts Festival. The festival grounds are fenced in with a 6-foot chain link fence, enclosing the festival’s two-acre footprint.
The fence is set up on the Thursday before the festival. Artists arrive from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Friday of the festival weekend.
Volunteers help with load-in and load-out. We ask artists to request special needs for load-in and load-out.
Our access is unique in that artists may pull up to their booth location for both load-in and load-out. We stagger our artists by booth number.
Those with odd numbered booths arrive in the morning, and those with even numbered booths arrive in the afternoon. This helps keep crowding down during load-in.
We have security on-site during all hours of the festival. Three security officers from DHS Security are on-site from 5 p.m. Friday until 5 p.m. Sunday.
During the active hours of the festival, there are four security officers from DHS Security and one off-duty Louisville officer roaming on-site. All officers have access to golf carts, so they may move about the festival grounds.
The major duty of our officers is to show a presence and always be visible. The off-duty Louisville police officer is in uniform.
The private security officers wear a uniform of red shirts that have “Security” written in yellow on the back of them and black pants. This is so they may be recognized.
During the festival’s active hours, the private security officers unlock and lock the two gates for the artists’ access. There is always one officer at the front gate where the attendees enter, while the other officers roam the festival grounds.
There are three entrances to the festival. At night, our entrance gates are locked, with the three roaming private security officers from DHS Security on-site.
Their overnight duties include making sure all artists and attendees are off the festival grounds at closing. They lock all the gates and monitor the grounds during the night hours.
The officers again have access to golf carts for roaming the grounds during the night hours. The festival grounds are lit at night.
Advice for Artists
Artists are made aware of the entrance and exit procedures. They are given the phone numbers of who to call if there is a problem. The fact that security is presented is stated in the Event Summary on the application form.
All artists are asked to be present at their booths during the festival's opening hours. We ask all artists to have booths with sides that can be secured at night. With the lighting of the festival grounds, fencing, locked gates, and roaming security, we try to make sure all property is safe.
It is stated in the Event Summary of the application form that all artists should have insurance that covers their losses. We carry a $1 million liability policy, required by Waterfront Development, LLC, for personal injury.
We take security very seriously in today’s world. We incur a large expense to ensure the security and safety of all attending our festival. Our artists’ and patrons’ wellbeing and safety are priorities for the Big Four Arts Festival.