(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Ronald Quaroni

Festival Enforcement

Big River RCMP prepare for Ness Creek weekend

Jul 19, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Campers and music lovers are ready for a fun-filled weekend in the Big River area.

Ness Creek 2019 is an annual music festival held at Ness Creek site near Big River and attracts thousands of music lovers.

Due to the large influx of people the Big River RCMP has brought in officers from other detachments to bolster their numbers.

“Some come for one day, some come for the entire weekend, but there would be at least 10 more (officers),” Detachment Commander Sgt. Marcus Paddock said.

Paddock explained they are expecting four to five thousand people in the area.

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Despite the large number, festival goers in the past have been well behaved, he said.

“In the last couple of years, the festival has been quite quiet for complaints. Last year we only had eight calls and most of those were issues with theft, (rather) than anything else,” Paddock explained. “The Ness Creek Festival Committee, they have their own security, and do a lot of work to ensure a safe environment out at Ness Creek itself and calls for us are quite limited.”

Similar to Craven’s Country Thunder, another large music festival in the province, cannabis is now legalized for the first time.

Paddock explained cannabis use will be treated like alcohol.

“It’s permitted, but once you start moving campsite to campsite, or from campsite to the stage or a public venue, users must ensure it’s out and not being consumed at that time,” Paddock said.

He hopes people coming to and from the site are driving sober, avoiding open alcohol and generally travelling safely.

–

Ron.quaroni

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni