Changing times - Burp!!

[OpenMike]

Kelowna says no thanks to Wakefest rowdiness
Council acts on concerns of the community
Stuart Hunter, The Province
Published: Wednesday, October 03, 2007


Wakefest, a three-day summer boozefest that attracted 30,000 young people to Kelowna, has been cancelled by city council.

The July festival injected an estimated $5 million into the local economy, but had become too unruly, council decided.

Mayor Sharon Shepherd said yesterday that council voted to support a report by a committee of city staff and RCMP and not issue a permit to Wakefest organizer International Management Group because of concerns about public safety and property damage caused by drunken rowdies.

The door was left open for Wakefest to re-apply for a permit in 2009, but Shepherd said it would only be welcome "under very different circumstances.

"We have also received a very strong letter from the Kelowna Hotel Motel Association, asking us not to support the event, as well as one from Tourism Kelowna."

Last summer's seventh annual event morphed into a giant party with people -- many with no tickets -- drinking openly in the streets and in vehicles. Nightclubs on Leon Avenue were a virtual free-for-all and local hotels evicted some guests, including one couple who were reportedly having sex on a balcony.

About 150 arrests were made -- more than twice as many as in 2006 -- with more than 200 liquor-related tickets issued.

At one point, 85 people were being held in the RCMP's 22 cells, forcing officers to use the courthouse jail and sheriff's van to hold drunks.

RCMP Const. Julie Rattee said some officers feared for their safety and the 32-member riot squad was nearly brought out to deal with rowdies shouting: "Riot!"

"It was a combination of extensive liquor consumption and the massive amount of people in the downtown core. It can't go on the way it has been," said Rattee.

IMG spokesman Dave Haggith said the event's policing budget was increased by $20,000 last summer to about $52,000 and organizers proposed decreasing ticket sales and changing concert times for 2008, but now they are looking for a new home in B.C.

"We are starting the process of looking for a new [B.C. venue], but it's too early to name names," Haggith said from Toronto.

shunter@png.canwest.com

THE LIST GROWS LONGER

Some other B.C. events that have been cancelled in recent years because of experiences with drunken rowdyism:

- Vancouver's First Night Festival

- White Rock's Sandcastle Competition

- North Vancouver's Hose Reel Festival

- Kelowna's Regatta

[johnsykes]

I've been saying that for months, if not years....no one gives a shi* for the next person any more.....gotta be first....fastest.....loudest, etc.....you name it.....the way life is in 2007.

Listen to the messages in rap "music" ....a great way for kids to grow up. Absolute crap!

And I suppose someone on this list will defend life as it is...you're entitled of course.

[Jack Bennest]

we all try to be somebody
but the world around us makes it so cloudy when
we all trust where we're supposed to
but the blood on the hands says we're not close to
the anwser yet, but maybe if we pull together
we could change a million lives for the better and
maybe if we would pray a little more
than maybe we would stop livin' in fear of the storm

Thousand Foot Krutch

[segueking2]

Drunks and miscreants have given us West End folks headaches for years, with the excerable Fireworks debauch and other such alcohol fuelled events.
The cops arrest the idiots, the justice system does nothing, and so we are getting to a point where people think they can get away with anything.
You would not believe what I have been witness to during Fireworks.
Calling these people 'animals' is an insult to our furry pals.

The end of a rational society, is when a code of laws and a baseline of acceptable public behaviour are rendered impotent.

When the economy rolls over (and believe me it will, sooner than most expect) we will be facing a calamity of our own making.