What's the empty strip in front of the stage?

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The empty strip between the stage and the front barrier is the pit: stewards and first aiders work from it, lifting people in trouble over the barrier and out to the side. The barrier is an A-frame held down by the crowd standing on it, built for about half a tonne of push per metre.

The empty strip in front of the stage is the way out of the crowd.

Facts

  • The area between the stage and the front-of-stage barrier is “the pit”: HSE guidance says it should help stewards, first aiders and paramedics, and that stewards extract people in distress over the barrier and lead them away down an escape corridor.
  • A step on the stage side of the barrier lets staff see into the crowd, hand out water and pull people out.
  • Front-of-stage barriers are A-frames: the audience stands on the footplate, and that weight keeps the barrier from tipping.
  • One code of practice designs them for 5 kN per metre at 1.2 m (about half a tonne of force) – a load for the structure, “not necessarily a pressure which can be tolerated by the human body”.
  • On 30 June 2000, nine fans died in a crush during Pearl Jam at Roskilde. From 2001 the festival split the front of its main stage into pens that can be emptied and evacuated one by one.
  • At a big rock festival, one pit specialist describes “up to 300 or 400 crowd surfing for one song”.

Sources

  1. HSE: The event safety guide (HSG195, second edition, 1999) · HSE checked 15 October 2026
  2. HSE: Stage barriers (updated 12 Oct 2024) · HSE checked 15 October 2026
  3. Code of Practice for Safety at Outdoor Pop Concerts, ch. 8: Front-of-Stage Barriers (Ireland; EIAI reproduction, archived 2023) · EIAI checked 15 October 2026
  4. Mojo Barriers: Straight section · Mojo Barriers checked 15 October 2026
  5. MOJO Rental UK: Mojo Barriers · MOJO Rental checked 15 October 2026
  6. Festival Insights: A more personal approach to security (29 Sep 2015) · Festival Insights checked 15 October 2026
  7. NME: Roskilde tragedy remembered (29 Jun 2001) · NME checked 15 October 2026
  8. Euronews: 'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on (30 Jun 2025) · Euronews checked 15 October 2026
  9. Festival Insights: An interview with Mojo Barriers (Michael Baker, 18 Dec 2015) · Festival Insights checked 15 October 2026
  10. Pollstar: Roskilde extends Mojo Barriers deal (5 Apr 2016) · Pollstar checked 15 October 2026

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Script

What's the empty strip in front of the stage? Watch the barrier. It's called the pit, and it's how stewards and first aiders reach you. Faint, get squeezed or crowd-surf, and they lift you over the barrier, into the pit, and out to the side. The barrier is an A-frame. The crowd stands on its footplate, so its own weight holds it down. It's built for about half a tonne of push per metre. That's for the steel, not your ribs. After nine fans died in a crush at Roskilde in 2000, the festival split its front area into pens. That empty strip is the way out.

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Sources last checked 15 October 2026.