So this past weekend, I attended a couple nights of the "Life is beautiful" festival in the downtown section of Las Vegas with my brother and several of his out of town friends from back in Florida. This is the third year "the boys" have come to town for "Life is beautiful". None of them seemed to have any second thoughts of attending based on the Harvest 91 festival shooting, of which the 1 year anniversary is approaching in a few days.
It weighted heavy on my mind though. I though and worried about it a lot. As a matter of fact, I think about it anytime I am in public spaces, in the shadow of high-rise hotels, now.
So the noticeable change at "Life is beautiful" is that there were temporary canopies (large tents) that were not there in previous years, so at least some of the attendees, around the bigger stages were under a canopy. Obviously this was not to protect from rain. Neither was it to protect from sun, as the majority of this festival and music events took place in the evening/night hours. I believe the canopy was there solely so that the attendees were not so much out in the open. I mean obviously the tent-like canopies would provide no protection against a bullet, but just the idea, that there was something blocking a potential shooter's view (and shot).
Now this same weekend (last weekend), there was a second big music festival (seems like poor planning), I Heart Radio on the strip. In past years at least some of the acts of I Heart Radio have also been at outdoor venues, with the larger acts indoors. This year all acts of that festival were held indoors at T-Mobile. So that was a notable change.
Just some thoughts of these sad times that we live in, as we approach the 1 year anniversary of Harvest 91.