CMU School of Drama


Sunday, September 02, 2012

Indiana State Fair Marks Tragic Anniversary

PLSN: The Indiana State Fair was expected to halt all fair activities for a moment of remembrance and reflection at 8:46 p.m. Aug. 13, 2012, a year after the main stage collapsed, killing seven. Many fair-goers were expected to visit the plaque that fair organizers had erected near the site, listing the names of those who died.

4 comments:

David Feldsberg said...

While it is important to remember those lost and it is extremely impressive that they've raised over 13 million to for the families of those affected, the festival needs to realize that these accidents can be avoided. It is far too often that one hears of stage collapses around this country. I think the problem could very well be our thirst for more and more 'sparkle'. The demand for bigger and louder stages should also be met with a supply of technicians trained in the field who are confident of their own skills and can, most importantly, be brave enough to tell their superiors that 'yes, you do have to many lights on that truss'.

DPSwag said...

It was a courteous gesture for the festival to recognize those who were killed a year ago, but I agree with David; things like what happened last year can be avoided. I'm hoping that with the $7.6 million also went to training technicians in this area of expertise to make sure that this doesn't happen again and to be sure that those working in the festival are both competent in their skill level and in their ability to point out and fix whatever is going/could go wrong as quick and accurately as possible.

AJ C. said...

Things never tend to end. After all of the drawn out Spiderman articles, the Indiana State Fair is going to be something that will continue too far it seems. As stated many times, these accidents can be avoided. As noted in this article, it is not only the entertainment industry that needs to take caution, but even something like a horse carriage.

If only our we had a better ideal on what the outcome of this should be. Not a settlement or lawsuits. But the $7.6 million to go to training, which I am sad to say DPSWAG, I dont believe will happen. Instead it will go to make a mends for death. Death is very hard to make a mends over, but hopefully good will come out of the lawsuits more so then a financial burden to the companies.

Rachael S said...

"Was expected to halt", "were expected to visit". Did it not halt, and did people not visit?

It's touching that there was desire to take a moment and remember this tragedy. More importantly, I hope this serves as a reminder to riggers and builders everywhere of the potential consequences of not taking your work seriously, triple checking it, keeping up-to-date on safety procedures, etc. Like everyone else said, this could have been avoided. Hopefully other rigging disasters will be avoided in the future. (Although, of course, we won't know.)

Also, I want to know if the horses are okay.