Float Fest kicks off in sizzling heat

Float Fest five is underway, with many attendees arriving Friday morning to snag prime camping spots and prepare for the next two days of festival fun.

Float Fest was over 90 percent sold Saturday morning, with an increased capacity this year of 20,000 attendees each day. More safety staff will also be onhand around the clock.

Sgt. Gary Griffin of Hays County Constable Office Precinct 3 was on site at Cool River Ranch in Guadalupe County Friday morning as staff finished setting up, and attendees began arriving by the carload.

The safety plan for this year’s Float Fest was developed over months of coordinated strategic efforts spanning multiple area agencies, Griffith said.

“We are the public safety and security component for Float Fest, we make sure all the event attendees have a good time and enjoy themselves in a safe and enjoyable environment,” he said.

With triple digit temperatures already established, Griffin said safety is of utmost important.

“To be quite honest it’s not really a policing issue as much as it is an environmental issue, regarding the excessive heat, that’s probably the biggest concern that we have. It’s hot for anybody to stay out in these elements for an extended period of time.”

Extended sun exposure, high temperatures, physical activities — walking the grounds, swimming, dancing — can take its tole on the body, and Griffin says the safety team is prepared for the weekend.

“Our medical team expects that they will be busier as the event progresses, due to the heat. I’m sure they’ll be some dehydration issues, some heat related issues, we recognize that, and beefed up the medical personnel out here to deal with those type of issues because of the weather reports leading up to this weekend.”

“We have a combination of police officers, security officers, emergency medical responders, water rescue — a tremendous amount of staff. We’ve been out here a number of years now, we have never really had a police problem ... I feel very comfortable with the safety plan that has been developed over the last 6–7 months,” Griffin said.

Field medics will be mobile, patrolling in golf carts, along with a designated, staffed medical tent.

“We have an interconnected radio system, help can be dispatched to any area of the festival grounds quickly,” Griffin said.

Fellow attendees are often the first to spot trouble and seek help for others.

“These attendees respect the police, and they care about people that are having a medical issue, they’re the ones who say – ‘Hey, someone needs help over here,’” Griffin said.

Many campsites were fully functional by noon, with tents pitched, shade tarps, chairs, tables, rugs, mattresses inflated, snacks stocked, colors raised, coolers full, water, Gatorade and beer on ice.

“You see everybody bringing in their own water” Griffin said, pointing to an attendee strolling by. “There’s a gentleman with bags of ice, there’s a lot of self preparedness from the attendees that goes into this; they go to many events like this, they know it’s summer time in Texas, they know what to expect, and they prepare for that, they know the environment they are coming to — they’re not completely oblivious to 100 degree heat. They come prepared to enjoy the concert and river, they bring equipment and resources to be able to function.”

The festival grounds on Friday. 

Over the past four festivals, Griffin said he has not received reports of fights, disturbances, or petty theft. The most common issue is classic, “I lost my phone.” People losing things is common, with the major offender being the San Marcos River itself. And there’s a whole crew of people keeping the river clean and safe too. The Eyes of the San Marcos River are out in force educating tubers and picking up trash.

Griffin has a positive attitude about safety responders interacting with festival attendees, “We’re just out here to stay out of everybody’s way, let them enjoy the festival, if a situation arises we are certainly in a position to affectively respond and mitigate the situation efficiently and quickly — that’s what the police are here for, to help.”

For more info, tickets and Float Fest line up: https://floatfest.net