Lawsuit threatened over Salmon Festival crowding
Toronto visitor upset with overcrowding, restricted water access
One concert-goer is so upset with this weekend's Salmon Festival in central Newfoundland that she is considering a class-action lawsuit.
Debbie Dwight drove from Toronto to attend the festival in Grand Falls-Windsor, which featured the Eagles, the Tragically Hip and other acts.
Dwight and her husband bought VIP tickets, which were supposed to have provided prominent seating. Instead, she said it was oversold and unsafe.
"If there had been any incident there last night, there was no way anybody anyone was getting in, and no way that anyone was getting out," Dwight told CBC News.
"The people need to know when they go to a festival like that, that their safety is primary, and it's not just about the bottom line," she said.
Dwight's complaints about overcrowding in the VIP section were reiterated by others in social media, with some saying their experience was ruined as several thousand people were herded into the area.
Many who attended were also upset about long lineups to buy water, and an apparent shortage of water supplies at some points.
Dwight was astonished to hear announcers tell attendees at the festival to stay hydrated, even amid the lineups.
"Obviously they didn't know there wasn't water to drink," Dwight wrote in a newly created Twitter account, @salmonfestfail.
Dwight said she intended to "poll dissatisfied patrons" for a possible class-action suit against the promoters and the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor.
Dehydration caused medical concerns
A physician who worked in the medical tent said dehydration was an ongoing concern on Saturday, as were problems caused by drinking alcohol in blistering heat. Temperatures soared above 30 C for much of the afternoon.
Dr. Jared Butler said medical staff did what they could to help concertgoers stay hydrated.
"We actually gave up our own supplies throughout the course of the day," he told CBC News Monday.
"All the staff [who] were on site there brought in their own water for themselves, but at the end of the day, I know all my water was given away to people who needed it. So, you do what you can to make sure [those] who need a drink of water can have one."