Astroworld victim's family starts concert safety nonprofit as officials offer little change, updates

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It has been one year since Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival, where 10 people were crushed to death by a crowd surge at NRG Park, and little has changed with no update on the criminal investigation.

On Nov. 5, 2021, a crowd of roughly 50,000 people packed tightly into the sold-out festival. Horrifying cell phone footage showed unconscious bodies on the floor, as a crowd begged for the concert to stop, and first responders had difficulty getting to the victims.

The chaos began earlier in the day as hundreds rushed the event's perimeter. ABC13 cameras captured people breaching security, running through metal detectors and jumping over fences. Hundreds were injured, eight people died that night, and two later died at the hospital.

While their families are left trying to heal, there has been no update on where the criminal investigation stands. The Houston Police Department told ABC13 that they had no comment.

In February, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a joint Special Events Task Force to improve safety protocols at large venues in the city and county. However, there has been no public update.

Gov. Greg Abbott formed the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety and released a report "addressing gaps that were identified as contributing to failures at the Astroworld event." But there has been no real change since that would prevent another Astroworld tragedy from happening.

The family of Madison Dubiski, who was 23 when she and nine others died at the concert, is not waiting for officials and taking it upon themselves to take action. They have created the Pink Bows Foundation, in honor of Madison's legacy.

Peter Remington is best friends with Dubiski's father who asked him to be the president of the nonprofit foundation.

"She makes a room glow when she walks in," Remington said of Madison. "I mean, with that personality, when she walks in, you just see the place light up."

Dubiski went to see Travis Scott perform with her brother and friends.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: The Astroworld Festival Tragedy

"Things don't end up wrong," Remington said. "They start off wrong. And if you look at the video that happened at the Astroworld concert, it started off wrong to have people busting through security gates. The police didn't have the ability to shut it down. The fire department didn't have the ability. Nobody had the ability to shut that mess down before it even started. A massive failure, all the way around."

Family and friends began putting pink bows and ribbons throughout the city in honor of Dubiski.

"We realized that it wasn't just about Madison," Remington said. "There were nine other children that lost their lives that night."

The foundation was launched on May 1 as a tribute to her birthday.

The mission of the Pink Bows Foundation is to promote stronger safety protocols to be consistently implemented at entertainment venues. The group is in the process of making prototypes for comfort tents, which would be pink and easy for anyone to find.

"Where people are feeling nervous, they have anxiety, things are just going wrong for them, they can leave the concert and come to our tent and get a bottle of water, talk to somebody about their anxiety level, talk to somebody," Remington said. "Now, they have their medical tents that are for cuts and bruises and things and so forth. We're here for the other portion of it. The mental stability of the attendee."

While they are in the early discovery stages, Remington said they are in talks with local entertainment venues and security firms to help decide when an event needs to be paused or completely stopped.

"What we're looking to do is have an independent third party that would be not attached to the show whatsoever," Remington said. "They have no financial implications with the events. So they will be able to say, 'Hey, something's going on back here. We need to shut this down or turn on the lights or slow things down until we get that situation fixed.'"

Ultimately, Remington said the Dubiski family wants to prevent another family from having to go through the same heartbreak as them and the other nine families.

Anyone can donate to the nonprofit by going to their website.

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