Three days are in the books at Stars and Thunder and it seems both ticket holders and event personnel are still trying to find their bearings.
The eight-day, taxpayer funded festival has been drawing big crowds boosted by mostly clear skies, mild summer temperatures and massive 50/50 draws, which reached over $20,000 on Monday. But some are puzzled by the park's layout.
"I've never been to a festival in my life where everyone is sitting in chairs. Nor have I ever been to a festival in my life where there is a gate behind the soundboard, separating the lowly general admission folk from the VIP. Ever. I go to at least three festivals every year. This is absurd," said South Porcupine resident Adam McKay, who came out with his girlfriend mainly to see Nova Scotia rocker Joel Plaskett perform.
"We just got back from Field Trip, one of the biggest festivals in Toronto. No issues. Everyone's cool."
Field Trip is an annual concert series which took place in early June at Fort York. This year its lineup featured Broken Social Scene, Feist, A Tribe Called Red, Phoenix, and others.
McKay and his girlfriend were enjoying themselves in the sun in the general admission section on Monday evening when park security, which is being handled by Sword Security, arrived and told the couple that their small, purple inflatable seat had to be deflated immediately. He said they weren't trying to break any rules, and were actually taking other concert goers into consideration, as sight lines to the stage have become a growing issue in the park, due to a staggering amount of folding chairs set up throughout both the general admission and VIP areas.
"We brought in an inflatable chair because our thought was we'd be sitting lower than anyone else in a chair. We would be reducing the visibility impairment for those behind us. It's full of air. It's the least dangerous thing we could have ever possibly brought in," he told TimminsToday.
McKay speaks with event security after being told the inflatable seat he and his girlfriend was no longer allowed to be filled with air. Andrew Autio for TimminsTodayThe security personnel told McKay they 'weren't trying to be dicks' but 'these are the rules', and that non-compliance would see them call the police over.
Complicating matters was the fact that the inflatable seat was fine with gate security staff, which all ticket holders must go through before entering the park.
"The security let us bring it in, after explaining to them what it was. But apparently now, this is not allowed, even though it was definitely not on 'the list', which we followed rigidly. Which by the way, is an absurd list. I would love to get a glass of water right now, but I can't because there's nowhere to get that either," said McKay, pointing out a lack of watering stations, which can be seen at many festivals including Rockfest in Montebello, Quebec, which just wrapped up on Sunday.
Inflatable seats are not listed on the prohibited items for the Stars and Thunder festival. The only category it might fall under is 'any object that can be used to cause bodily harm'.
Security told the couple that the inflatable seat should have never been allowed in. The seat was deflated of its air, which then became a blanket, which made the security personnel happy at which point they left.
Although he enjoyed the sound quality from the main stage on Monday afternoon, the experience of dealing with security over a small inflatable seat left McKay shaking his head.
"This is an insane festival."
