Long lineups at Vancouver's Skookum festival blight otherwise successful 1st year
Inaugural fest drew 20,000 attendees at its peak but faced complaints about long waits for food, beer, toilets
Depending on who you asked over the weekend, the Skookum Festival was either a well-oiled machine or an event exhibiting some growing pains.
Sean Waddingham and Lauren Rundell were among the fans. The pair travelled from Edmonton to attend the three-day festival on Saturday.
"I'm really impressed," Waddingham said. "Its cleanliness and organization is nuts. Most festivals, you don't expect it to be this nice."
But other attendees complained online about the long lines for food and beer, a lack of portable toilets, and people smoking on the festival grounds.
Waited 1.5 HOURS for food today! More food vendors please!
—@amyjlevasseur'Urban festival'
The stakes were high for organizer BRANDLIVE, which spent two years planning the inaugural festival at Stanley Park after its previous event — the Squamish Valley Music Festival — shut down in 2016.
A weak Canadian dollar, costly headliners and the onerous task of populating massive fields have been blamed for the slump in B.C.'s music festival scene, which notably included the Pemberton Music Festival announcing bankruptcy in 2017.
Skookum, held at a Stanley Park field near the Aquarium, was seen as the antidote to car-dependent festivals outside the city, even espousing a zero-waste policy.
"I really think this is the evolution of the music festival," said festival spokesperson Laura Ballance.
"Having an urban festival makes so much sense on so many different levels because we are within an ability to walk, bike ride and use public transit."
The three-day event — a mishmash of 53 musical acts, multimedia art installations and food vendors — drew up to 20,000 people at its peak on Saturday, which featured headliner Florence and the Machine.
“I believe in love and I believe in the changes that individuals can make and it all starts with you.” - Florence Welch <a href="https://twitter.com/flo_tweet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@flo_tweet</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SKOOKUMFestival2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SKOOKUMFestival2018</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZVm9dEAWBT">pic.twitter.com/ZVm9dEAWBT</a>
—@SKOOKUMFestivalOrganizers said that number dipped to 15,000 people each day on Friday and Sunday, the latter of which was hampered by rain.
Extra toilets brought in
A notable musical roster, including Metric, Arkells, St. Vincent and Father John Misty, helped draw in healthy crowds.
"There's so many good artists for such a good price," Rundell said.
But handling the masses was also a challenge for organizers.
So <a href="https://twitter.com/SKOOKUMFestival?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SKOOKUMFestival</a> are you not planning to do anything about the people blatantly smoking inside your fence at Stanley Park?
—@erin_braincandyI found <a href="https://twitter.com/flo_tweet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@flo_tweet</a>’s show amazing last night at <a href="https://twitter.com/SKOOKUMFestival?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SKOOKUMFestival</a> but I do have to say, the crowd was cruel and when I asserted a boundary around consent, I got groped “for being an aggressive bitch”. <br><br>We need to have a conversation about consent.
—@JayeSimpson94Gotta say <a href="https://twitter.com/SKOOKUMFestival?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SKOOKUMFestival</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/skookumfestival?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#skookumfestival</a> security team has done an excellent job this weekend, not only immediately helping those with emergencies, but instantly dealing with any disorderly drunks instead of just giving them polite warnings.
—@TheBringerOfPieOne of the biggest objections: a lack of portable toilets.
The lineups were bad at all washrooms - even the ones away from active stages. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was awful.
—@awillsondesignI made a decision to purchase less beverages on site so I could avoid the washroom fiasco. I am sure I am not the only one. There was also plenty of people peeing in corners. We were warned by others of the state of the porta potties should we brave the line. Yuck.
—@angelsweptBallance said organizers brought in 60 extra portable toilets on Sunday. They also doubled the amount of food between Friday and Saturday.
"We reacted very quickly," Ballance said. "It's a first-year festival and we're always learning and getting better."
Final attendance numbers will be released Monday.