Big changes expected at Boston Calling 2025 after ‘unbearable’ crowds last year
Boston Calling will look different this upcoming weekend after last year's music festival drew backlash over "unbearable" crowds and serious safety concerns.
Organizers of the three-day live music event at the Harvard Athletic Complex unveiled major changes in January: a revamped stage layout, more water stations, an indoor arena and a redesigned site map showing the updated setup.
"We've been working hard to elevate your experience and enhance the value of your ticket," a statement from Boston Calling organizers read.
Most notably, the organizers chose to merge together the Happy Valley Red Stage and the Green Stage into one "world-class rotating stage system," renamed singularly as the Green Stage.
The performance area will still be located at the back of the Harvard Athletic Complex, and the Orange and Blue Stages will be set up as usual.
The new map for Boston Calling Music Festival unveiled Jan. 2, 2025. Image by Boston Calling Music FestivalBoston Calling Music Festival
The movement of festival goers between the Red and Green Stages as different artists took the stage was one of last year's largest issues. On May 26, 2024 — the sold-out third day of Boston Calling — massive back-to-back crowds packed between the adjacent stages to see major acts like Hozier, The Killers, Megan Thee Stallion and Chappell Roan .
About 1 out of every 100 people in the at-least 40,000-person audience experienced a medical issue that Sunday from what attendees described as chaotic and crushing crowds, made worse by heat and a lack of water.
"There was just nowhere to go ... everyone was just kind of being like moved in a wave, and all I could think was, 'God forbid there was some kind of panic — we were going to get trampled,'" Sunday attendee Samantha Baron told MassLive at the time.
Heat played a "major role" last year in the medical encounters, a Boston EMS spokesperson said. Many attendees couldn't access the free water stations at the front of the venue, and there was no indoor area to cool down — both of which are "very vital" to the safety of large-scale venues, public safety expert Bryan Martineau previously told MassLive.
This year, more water stations have been positioned throughout the festival and organizers will bring back an air-conditioned indoor venue on the Harvard Complex. The indoor venue will also feature its own lineup of performers.
Boston Calling 2025 will kick off Memorial Day weekend on Friday, May 23 and will continue through Sunday, May 25. More coverage can be found here .
More on Boston Calling's Local lineup
Read the original article on MassLive .
