Mr. Slim Shady draws one big crowd.
By Sunday (April 20), the executive director of the Squamish Valley Music Festival (SVMF) anticipates tickets to the Aug. 10 evening performances including rapper Eminem will sell out.
Ticket sales for the three-day event from Aug. 8 to 10 sit at approximately 28,000, Paul Runnals told the District of Squamish council at Committee of the Whole on Tuesday (April 15).
“The other event announced the other day helped us,” he said, noting ticket sales jumped after Pemberton Music Festival announced its lineup.
Over the festival’s four-year history more than 95,000 festival-goers have visited Squamish. Last year, SVMF pumped $10 million into the Sea to Sky Corridor’s economy, he noted.
With this year’s event doubling in size, the festival has already contributed more than $100,000 worth of donations to Squamish organizations and spent $1.4 million on services in the community, said Runnals. Organizers anticipate the 2014 festival will draw $50 million to B.C.’s economy.
Changes have been implemented to ensure the festival runs smoothly, Runnals said. That includes 24-hour command and medical centres to take the heat off local first responders, he said. The medical centre will be staffed by 125 professionals and offset the use of Squamish General Hospital.
“We will have a women’s-only centre,” Runnals added.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman asked whether Squamish residents are capitalizing on the event by renting out rooms or their backyards. While Runnals said he hasn’t seen an organized site for such activity, he knows it does occur.
Residents neighbouring the festival’s camping are concerned about its impacts on their property and lives, Coun. Ron Sander said. He questioned whether festival organizers are going to monitor noise levels in those areas during the event.
SVMF plans to conduct such testing, with the hopes that the data will inform future conversations, Runnals said.
