Festival organiser hits back after act abused online

A "frustrated" festival organiser has personally confronted online trolls after they targeted a female tribute artist due to perform at his event.

Richard Walpole, who runs the Gloworm Festival in Nottinghamshire, stepped in after seeing 15 comments directed at the artist after it was announced she would feature at the festival in August, including remarks about her weight.

The 33-year-old contacted several of those responsible directly, including through their place of work, to challenge their behaviour and highlight the impact of online harassment.

Anna MacGregor, founder and CEO of Safer Spaces, said comments like this are "deeply disappointing but not surprising" at live music events.

Walpole, who organises the annual festival at Thoresby Park, said he decided to challenge people behind the messages to "show them the impact their comments could have".

"It was pure shock and horror from those comments that made me want to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said.

"I actually had a bit of guilt from this, so I decided to challenge them."

The organiser used social media to find key details about the individuals making the comments, including where they work.

He then contacted those businesses to expose publicly what some of their employees had been posting online.

After confronting one individual about their actions, Walpole said that he eventually received an apology after numerous email exchanges and phone calls.

"I'll never know if they've apologised because they've been called out or whether they are actually remorseful and horrified by what they did," he said.

"They're clearly embarrassed by it, they don't want people that know them seeing that they've done that.

"It makes me think that they believe they're invincible online."

While wanting to confront those responsible, Walpole said he does not want his own actions to impact people connected with the culprits or their businesses.

"We don't want to ruin their lives, it's not about that," he said.

"But it was tough for me to sit back and not challenge it.

"I hope more people feel comfortable about challenging this behaviour, it's not about ruining lives, it's about protecting people.

"If people aren't prepared to say something to somebody then don't hide behind a screen to do it."

Anna MacGregor, the founder of Safer Spaces, a group which responds to incidents of domestic abuse, sexual violence and violence against women and girls in the live events industry, said the abusive comments are "reflective of society at the moment".

"It's horrific, it's abhorrent, it shouldn't happen and it's deeply disappointing, but it's not surprising," she said.

"I was really proud to see the event organiser had confronted the situation directly, that's what we need everybody to be doing."

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