Harry Styles at Coliseo Live, the largest multipurpose stage in Latin America
The Live Coliseum has not even completed a semester of operation and is overflowing with complaints. The last streak has been after the Harry Styles concert, why do they every time there is an event there?
Photo: IG-harrystyles
LatinAmerican Post | Julián Gómez
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Leer en español: Harry Styles en Coliseo Live, el escenario multidespropósito más grande de América Latina
The chaos at the Harry Styles concert was just the most notable alert of the many that have been raised at Coliseum Live. The scenario that was promoted as the largest multipurpose in Latin America has a series of problems that go beyond logistics and touch the road, environment, and infrastructure.
A Scenario That Started Badly
Marc Anthony was the artist with whom the Colosseum Live opened its doors for the first time. At that time the complaints focused on traffic chaos, which is logical. Located in the border area between Bogotá and Cundinamarca on Calle 80, this scenario only has one access road, and traffic jams of more than two hours will inevitably be generated.
Every time there is a show at the Live Coliseum, traffic is clogged. The only way that many have to get there is by vehicle since the area is uninhabited and does not have alternate routes. But it is not only that, Calle 80 is a crucial route for heavy load carriers leaving and entering Bogotá. As happened with the Marc Anthony concert, when there is a holiday Monday at the weekend, the road network is minimal.
Therefore, the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, urged the municipal government of Cota (Cundinamarca) to establish a transit plan that avoids traffic chaos. However, in the more than three months that the facility has been in operation, little or no progress has been made in this regard and the residents of surrounding areas have seen their quality of life affected.
On stage, they constantly compare their competition, which is the Movistar Arena, but the differences are wide. The first thing is that the Movistar Arena was readapted, but not built from scratch; The second thing is that it is located in a central area in Bogotá, which means that attendees can arrive from different points; and the third is the capacity, in which the Live Coliseum is almost double, which makes its logistics even more complex.
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Infrastructure
The most repeated complaint about the Harry Styles concert was the amount of fainting that occurred. Before an energetic public like the youth, the stalls of the Live Coliseum (with a capacity of 12,000 people) can become torture for many. The attendees claimed that there was poor ventilation and the logistics staff of the stage showed negligence.
In this case, the responsibility could be shared, since the organizers of the event must also ensure the well-being of their clients. The insufficiency of the vital minimum of water, the confiscation of food in the lines, the suffocation generated by the crowd, and the stampedes generate states of anxiety that in the least serious case end in fainting.
In addition to the few bathrooms offered, leaving the stage is also chaos for many attendees. The complaint became latent from the Arctic Monkeys concert and was revalidated at Harry Styles's. The audience of the place does not have a safe evacuation plan and it will be something in those who work in the venue must improve.
The Other Troubles Of The Colosseum Live
According to a report by Cambio Colombia, when the license for the Live Coliseum was offered, the construction had to occupy less than half the space it does. In addition, it was carried out in an area at risk of flooding and is very close to the Bogotá River, which would also affect the environment.
Additionally, its construction was carried out with a conflict of interest of Giovanny Alfonso Balsero, an official of the Government of Cota who was also one of the engineers involved in its construction. Despite the lack of guarantees for the environment, the venue inexplicably received the license from the CAR, the body in charge of granting them.
The shared task is between the municipal government of Cota, the department of Cundinamarca, the district of Bogotá, and those responsible for the Live Coliseum. The warnings are numerous and they are in time to avoid tragedies that may occur later if the conditions of the site are not improved.