Stage floor gives way at Monte Verità during Film Festival reception

The floor of the platform set up for the audience gave way this morning at Monte Verità in Ascona, during the reception organised by the Locarno Film Festival in honour of Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider. One person was slightly injured.

The reception brings together festival guests and representatives of the institutions on the hill above Ascona. The main guest was the Federal Councillor, expected to give a speech before the audience.

According to tio.ch, what gave way was the floor of the structure supporting the audience's chairs. At that moment around a hundred people were seated, waiting for the speeches to begin. «Il pavimento si è sollevato come un'onda e poi si è aperto quello squarcio» (the floor rose like a wave, then that gash opened up), says a witness who was present.

The audience was brought to safety and moved away. The injured person was taken away by ambulance. Their condition gives no cause for concern.

The ceremony continued on the lawn

The event was not cancelled. After a delay of about an hour, the official part resumed on the lawn next to the structure. The festival confirmed the incident in a statement. Cantonal and municipal police attended the scene.

The causes of the collapse are not yet clear and the organisers are examining them. Still to be clarified are, in particular, the condition of the platform and the load the audience was placing on the floor at the moment of the collapse.

The outcome of the checks matters beyond today. Open-air events, in Ticino as elsewhere, regularly rely on platforms and stands assembled for the occasion, and the reception at Monte Verità was an appointment with institutional guests and a large audience. The organisers' answers will show whether the collapse was due to the material, the assembly or the use of the structure.