THE SHOWSTOP® PROCEDURE WORKSHOP
October 19, 2025 | Toronto, Ontario
OVERVIEW
The Showstop® Procedure is a one-day course, designed for experienced event professionals who work within a strategic, tactical or operational role at events, with responsibility for the safety of crowds.
At its core, the Showstop® Procedure enables immediate intervention to stop a live performance if there is a credible threat to life safety (e.g. crowd related, structural failure, mass public order, fire or terrorism).
The Showstop® Procedure is a proven, formalised, predefined and robust process that enables a swift response to an imminent or immediate threat to life safety during a live performance or sporting event. The Showstop® Procedure can be incorporated into the full range of events to enhance emergency preparedness.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The Professional Certificate in Showstop® Procedure demonstrations competency for roles specific to Showstop® Procedure, for those participants who successfully pass the course.
- Apply event specific Showstop® Procedure planning and preparation, with defined roles and an understanding of the need to recognise artist and audience cultures.
- Be cognizant of the need for a system wide, multi-agency approach to the planning, preparedness and implementation of Showstop®.
- Recognise the importance of the decision-making architecture, the ability to dynamically assess a threat to life safety and recognise the wide range of incidents that may lead to the implementation of a Showstop®.
- Understand the importance of decisiveness and effective communication, and the requirement for documenting decisions.
- Apply a robust protocol for restarting the performance, if safe to do so, or, coordinating a full halt to the performance.
SKILLS
On completion of the course, the successful learner will have been given the opportunity to develop their knowledge, understanding, decision making, teamworking, communication and leadership skills. From successful completion of the course, they will be able to apply these skills in practice. The key to this course is to give those taking the programme the ability to apply these skills in the Showstop® workplace to create a robust and resilient team.
TRAINER BIOGRAPHY
| Steve Allen, FdA MIFireE FIIRSM RSP Steve Allen is a global crowd safety and security consultant with over 30 years of experience. As the recognized pioneer of Showstop® Procedure, Steve has ensured the safety of crowds and spectators at concerts, festivals, sporting events and other major events. Steve has consulted for Royal events in the UK and MIddle East, for multinational brands and has toured with artists including, but not limited to, Oasis, Led Zeppelin, Eminem, Beastie Boys, Dixie Chicks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kasabian and the Stereophonics. |
ABOUT THE PINK BOWS FOUNDATION
Madison Alexis Dubiski was a vibrant, kind-hearted young woman whose life was tragically taken at the age of 23 in the 2021 Astroworld concert crowd crush, a preventable tragedy that claimed nine other lives, and injured hundreds. In honor of her memory and to prevent future tragedies, her family established the Pink Bows Foundation.
The Pink Bows Foundation’s mission is to identify and mitigate foreseeable hazards and foster a positive culture of safety, care and awareness, no matter the type of event. Central to this mission is the Showstop® Procedure course— The Pink Bows Foundation first-ever standardized safety protocol is designed to better prepare event organizers and public safety personnel, as well as enhance audience safety during live performances.
Safety should not be a choice; it is a duty. We are collaborating with global safety organizations, venue management, event organizers and major insurance companies to provide awareness, training and expertise they need to ensure crowd safety. The Foundation’s mission is to improve safety standards across the event industry and reduce the occurrence of major injuries and fatalities.