Wakefest killed by council

By Ron Seymour Tuesday, October 2, 2007 Kelowna Courier

Wakefest organizers say they would have doubled their payment for policing to $100,000 if that would have convinced the city to allow the event to go ahead next summer. They were also prepared to reduce the size of the beer garden, lower the on-site maximum capacity from 6,000 to 4,500 people and scrub the evening concert. But their offers to modify the event were rejected by city staff, who said the problems of widespread drunkenness and fighting were serious enough to warrant cancellation of the mid-July festival. Council acted on staff‘s recommendation Monday, voting 8-1 to deny Wakefest organizers a permit to hold the event in Waterfront Park. “The most important thing is protecting the overall safety of the citizens of Kelowna,” said Coun. Brian Given, who added that police told him the atmosphere at certain times during this year‘s Wakefest was “downright scary.”

“The whole thing is somewhat of a powder keg,” agreed Coun. Robert Hobson. “Maybe it‘s time to cool our heels and look for events that are more family-oriented.” About 140 people were arrested during this year‘s Wakefest, double the number last year, and RCMP Staff-Sgt. Phil Boissonneault told council there were times when the crowd was chanting “Riot! Riot!” “We came as close as we have ever come to losing control of this event,” Boissonneault said. Wakefest, first held in 2002, attracted about 34,000 people this year, with many of them not interested in watching the wakeboarding competition, he said. “They‘re not here to watch a sporting event. They‘re here to drink and party,” he told council. Based on their own observations, some councillors gave considerably different accounts of the extent and seriousness of problems associated with Wakefest. Coun. Norm Letnick said he went to the evening concert with his 13-year-old daughter and didn‘t note too many problems, aside from widespread marijuana smoking. “For 99 per cent of the people, this is a great event,” said Coun. Andre Blanleil, the only one to vote against denying Wakefest organizers a permit for next year.

But Coun. Carol Gran said she went downtown in the late afternoon while Wakefest was on and felt “sick” at some of the things she saw. Many young people, including young girls, were drunk in public, Gran said. She has granddaughters that age, and she said she went home and “prayed that they didn‘t get raped.” “The safety of the young people is paramount,” said Coun. Michele Rule. “I‘m amazed they got home safely.” Asked by council how much it might cost to provide a sufficient level of policing, Boissonneault estimated at least $100,000. Additional police would have to be brought in from around the province, he said, and a 32-member riot squad would have to be on standby for the entire weekend. Told later of Boissonneault‘s comments, Dave Haggith, of IMG Canada, which puts on Wakefest, said the company would have paid $100,000 for extra policing. “Absolutely,” Haggith said from Toronto. “We were prepared to do anything and everything asked of us.” Other changes suggested by IMG would have seen the beer garden area reduced in size and the maximum number of people allowed in Waterfront Park at any time scaled back from 6,000 to 4,500. The evening concert would also have been cancelled. In the staff report to council, there was no mention of the changes that IMG was prepared to make for next year‘s event. But staff told council that IMG officials knew what the recommendation was, and they could have attended the meeting to plead their case.

Haggith suggested the company simply decided it wouldn‘t be worth it to send a representative to the meeting. “We‘re disappointed by council‘s decision, but I can‘t say we‘re surprised,” he said, given the nature of discussions between company officials and city staff in recent months. Now, Wakefest organizers will look for another community in B.C. to host the 2008 event. “We‘ve got a number of options, but it‘s a little too early to throw the names of the cities out publicly,” said Haggith. He didn‘t expect it would be hard to sell Wakefest in other cities, despite the event being shut down in Kelowna. “We firmly believe the changes we‘ve proposed will address all of the concerns,” he said. The Kelowna hotel and motel association supported cancellation of Wakefest, saying a number of properties had suffered damage caused by unruly guests. Problems with Wakefest spiked two years ago, recreation director David Graham said, when the event was promoted as the “party of the summer.” “That‘s the essence of the problem,” he said. “That‘s when it changed from being a sporting event to a party event.”