We’re sad to report that three fatalities occurred over the weekend at the ninth annual HARD Summer. As is far too often the case with music festivals, two women and one man died at the event, which took place over an extremely hot couple of days.

Two deaths occurred on the Saturday, while the last reported death occurred on the festival’s final day, on Sunday. HARD Summer worked hard not to repeat history after two people died at last year’s event, but their efforts were obviously not enough to prevent additional fatalities this year.

Captain Horace Boatwright of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department stated that the hot weather was likely a contributing factor to the deaths, though we won’t know for sure what happened until the coroner’s report is released. In addition to the fatalities, more than 300 festival goers were arrested over the weekend as well, largely due to public intoxication.

Unfortunately, and despite the best efforts of these companies, festival deaths appear to be a reality that we still have to live with, at least until proper harm reduction education and safety procedures can be implemented.

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