A cloud over large-scale events after deadly Shanghai stampede

Shanghai police officers stand guard at Nanjing East Road in the Bund on Saturday night, site of the tragic stampede on New Year's Eve that claimed 36 lives. The accident occurred Wednesday night as tens of thousands of revellers assembled in Shanghai's historic riverfront walk to watch a New Year skyline show in the Pudong financial area opposite of Huangpu River.[Photo/IC]

Guyi Garden has confirmed that their lantern exhibition, one of the two major annual lantern exhibitions held for the last seven years in Shanghai, will be canceled this year out of safety concerns, reported The Beijing Morning Post on Tuesday.

Guyi Garden said they decided to cancel the exhibit because the event was oversubscribed given the limited capacity of the garden, based on attendance figures from former years.

Instead, they will enhance security to better prepare for the Spring Festival Temple Fair, another large-scale event during Spring Festival.

The cancellation could be a reflection of the concerns and lack of confidence in crowd control after the unexpected deadly stampede in Shanghai. Concerns have also spread to Beijing.

Many supermarkets in the capital noticed their customers said they would cancel their planned business promotions to avoid the repetition of the Shanghai New Year countdown tragedy, according to The Beijing News on Tuesday.

"Not all the large-scale promotion events must be cancelled," the staff of Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce stressed, "but reporting the event in advance is now even more important."

Thirty-six people died in a fatal stampede during New Year celebrations late in the night of Dec 31 in Shanghai due to the lack of crowd control. After the incident, Shanghai called off all New Year celebrations in public places.