Case
Teaching Notes
Abstract
An unexpected crowd surge at Astroworld, the Travis Scott-headlined music festival in Houston, Texas, left ten people dead and several hundreds injured. The subsequent investigation revealed multiple failures by festival organizers and security personnel in providing sufficient resources and properly planning for and safeguarding against the possibility of a dangerous crowd surge. The question of who should ultimately be held accountable remains up in the air, as festival organizers, performers, and local police pass around the blame, while lawsuits from victims’ families and affected audience members accumulate. This case asks students to discuss the negligence that led to the tragedy and address whether safety management protocols at live events need to be reformed.
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