Rhythm and Vines: Death spurs call for better mental health support at upcoming festival

Hauora Tairāwhiti leaders want better mental health support at Rhythm and Vines after the death of a Wellington teenager who disappeared from the festival.

Search teams found the body of 19-year-old Fletcher Wong on December 31, 2020, about two days after he was last seen leaving the Rhythm and Vines festival at Gisborne’s Waiohika Estate.

Health board member Meredith Akuhata-Brown, who volunteered in the festival’s mental health and wellness space, said they were concerned that the youth would return home after the “traumatic” event.

“There were students we met who knew the young man, so there were a lot of hysterical young people in that space,” he told a Hauora Tairāwhiti health board meeting on Tuesday.

“We were not sure how we could guarantee the health and well-being of these young people after they left Tairāwhiti.”

Nicola Ehau, manager of Hauora Tairāwhiti’s population planning, financing and health group, said people received support after leaving the festival, through a response effort that began immediately after a sudden death.

The answer was not led by Hauora Tairāwhiti, as Fletcher was not from Gisborne, but they were involved in the process, he said.

Better mental health support for festival goers is the key recommendation to come out of Hauora Tairāwhiti’s health report from this year’s Rhythm and Vines music festival.

The health board recommended that their mental health team begin planning with Rhythm and Vines beginning in June to ensure a “better presence” on site at the upcoming festival, that mental health be included in all pre-event discussions. and that the service be paid rather than voluntary.

Rhythm and Vines festival director Kieran Spillane said that the well-being of attendees was one of their main focuses and that they had been building “safe spaces” that supported mental health for the past three to four years.

Everyone was in favor of mental health planning early this year, he said.

Approximately 23,000 people attended the festival at the Waiohika Estate each day between December 28 and January 1.

A mental health and wellness space called “Haven” was run by Rhythm and Vines staff and volunteers, before Hauora Tairāwhiti’s mental health staff were added to the roster to help meet the demand.

This year, the Haven tent, located near the St John’s base at the festival, was the largest it had ever been in terms of infrastructure and staff, he said.

“It’s an area where we’ve been growing steadily, putting in a lot more resources and spending a lot more time … I think we just have to continue down that path of providing more support to people in need.”

The Haven was a tent where attendees could sit and relax, or talk to staff if necessary. The staff included qualified counselors and people with experience in the field, who could assess whether an assistant needed additional treatment, Spillane said.

“If you’re not feeling well, no matter what the cause is, it’s a place that you can go and initially just talk to someone, have that initial assessment and then more action can be taken from there.

“Certainly with the DHB coming on board and whatever support they can provide, it will be welcomed with open arms.

“Customer safety, customer well-being is one of our top concerns and this is an area that we have identified as needing more resources.”

A report on health services over the Christmas and New Year period provided to board members on Tuesday said Hauora Tairāwhiti received daily updates during the festival from community pharmacies, general practice, St John and the nursing manager on call.

Community pharmacies reported large numbers of people asking for remedies for diarrhea and vomiting, according to the report.

It was initially thought to be a developing norovirus, but when linked to St John’s “intelligence” on the Rhythm and Vines site, it was associated with “MDMA-type drug use.”

The MDMA-like drug was thought to have been cut with cathinones (bath salts) with side effects of diarrhea and vomiting, as well as high levels of anxiety.

St John continued to see this throughout the festival and reported his concern dealing with some extreme effects in some cases, particularly anxiety.

Drug testing was not available at Rhythm and Vines this year.

Spillane said legislation to allow drug testing came too late and that there were only three machines in the country capable of testing.

They would seek to implement drug testing in 2021.

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