By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: July 29, 2015
TAKE as many pictures as you want of Drake, Sam Smith or any of your favourite bands in the Squamish Valley Music Festival lineup — but just leave that selfie stick behind.
Squamish Valley Music Festival announced they won’t be allowing selfie sticks in the venue. “The festival won’t be allowing selfie sticks this year,” said Hayley Thomas, a media representative for the Squamish Music Festival.
The Squamish festival isn’t the only one that won’t allow a selfie-stick in the venue, which are used to extend cameras up to three feet. They have also been banned from the Pemberton Music Festival. This year, Disney World and Wimbledon also announced people won’t be allowed to use selfie sticks because of the nuisance they create for other spectators.
But selfie sticks aren’t the only things festival organiser won’t allow. You are not allowed to bring (thankfully) a weapon or anything that may be considered offensive. You are advised not to sneak in video or sound recording systems.
“Anyone who brings tripods, Go Pros, selfie sticks, monopods, excessive zoom lens or sound recording equipment will be asked to leave it with security and collect at the end of the festival,” the organisers inform.
Cameras with detachable lenses and zoom lenses that extend more than two inches are considered professional and will also not be allowed. Leave your cat or dog home, unless they are a guide dog. You may also banish the thought of bringing fireworks, flares, laser pens or any other laser equipment or any glass container with alcohol, ketchup or soft drinks in glass bottles.
Of course, the festival organisers want you to remain hydrated and fed. So, you are allowed to bring one sealed water bottle into the festival but it should be no bigger than 1.5 litres. But don’t throw that bottle away because there would be several filling stations in several spots for you to fill up with beautiful BC water.
As for food, you are allowed to bring a small, lunchbox-sized amount of food into the festival, although once you smell the food available at food trailers and carts, you may wonder why you bothered in the first place to pack some food. If you are attending the festival for the weekend, you are welcome to come and go as you please as your wristband will allow you repeat access if you exit and then wish to enter the main gate. If you are thinking of bringing your kids along, remembers 12-year-old and under are free but only when accompanied by a full-paying adult.
The organisers have also made arrangements for wheelchair and accessible entry and parking. If you do require accessible seating, parking or camping, purchase your festival passes through customer service at 1-855-682-6736. The organisers are also looking for passionate people who can volunteer for the Medical Volunteer Team from Aug. 7 to 11. Those volunteers include physicians, nurses, paramedics and first-aid attendants.
The festival organisers expect that more than 100,000 people will visit Squamish to check out the festival. The three-and-a-half-day festival generated nearly $32 million in economic activity across British Columbia, according to the organisers.
