With 6,000 more tickets than last year, organizers of the Squamish Valley Music Festival are planning to pitch tents on the Brennan Park fields.
In 2012, the two-day music festival's maximum one-day capacity sat at 13,000, a figure that has been bumped to 19,000 this year. Ticket sales for the August event are significantly ahead of last year, Dan McRae told the District of Squamish council at Committee of the Whole on Tuesday (April 16). To date, 7,500 weekend passes have sold and 80 per cent of the 3,000 campsites are booked.
Approximately 35 per cent of the event's website traffic is coming from outside of B.C., showing the event is becoming more of a destination festival, the economic sustainability coordinator said.
With the festival's growth comes challenges, he noted. Concert organizers, Brand.Live, and municipal officials are seeking parking and accommodation solutions for the growing crowd.
This year, hotels are already fully booked for the weekend event, a report to council stated. As a result, Brand.Live sought additional camping facilities at the Brennan Park fields.
Agreeing to organizers' request for the new facilities for the weekend comes with a risk, McRae said. The fields at Brennan Park were originally constructed on marshy terrain and are not able to sustain wear as well as the sand-based Hendrickson Fields, he noted. In a best-case scenario, camping on the fields will create some minor paths. In a worst-case scenario, severe damage could jeopardize the fields' use for the upcoming season, McRae said.
Significant damage is unlikely, McRae said, noting if damage did occur, it would likely be the result of a heavy downpour. In that case, the district could face a $1 million bill to rebuild the field, McRae said.
Again, it is unlikely, but it is a risk, he said.
District staff recommended council charge a $25,000 field service fee and negotiate an additional charge for significant field damage, should it occur.
Coun. Doug Race questioned whether such damage could be covered under insurance. It's not a subject that's been discussed, McRae replied, but one that staff will explore.
Down the road, officials will have to come up with a long-term solution, Race said, noting Brand.Live staff previously showed interest in developing an additional baseball diamond that would double as the festival's campground. Council unanimously elected to allow the concert the use of the fields.
Brand.Live is eyeing renting the Sabre site in the Squamish Business Park to deal with parking for additional vehicles. The company is also marketing a bus service from Vancouver and Whistler to the concert.
The festival comes with significant media coverage, McRae said. The market value of the pre-event media promotion is approximately $750,000. This year, CTV will be filming live from the event for some of its news shows on Friday and Saturday. The television show is also running a promotion in which two winners will be flown by helicopter to Brennan Park during the event.
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