PEI

Cavendish Beach Music Festival bans selfie sticks, GoPros

There has not been a lot of selfie stick use at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival in previous years, say the organizers, and they've moved to keep it that way.

If you're heading for the country concert on P.E.I.'s North Shore, leave your selfie stick behind

Organizers of outdoor events and theme park managers are becoming increasingly concerned that selfie sticks are not safe in crowds and annoying to others.These concerns prompted the Cavendish Beach Music Festival to ban them from the concert grounds. (AP)

There has not been a lot of selfie stick use at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival in previous years, say the organizers, and they've moved to keep it that way.

The metal poles, designed to hold cameras away from the user so they can take pictures of themselves, are banned from the grounds for this weekend's festival.

"It's just a distraction," said Jeff Squires.

"We haven't seen too many of them in here. But it was something within the industry, people that put on outdoor events are starting to talk about it. We just wanted to be proactive on it."

Squires said the festival is following the lead of other large events and many theme parks, including Disney, that are putting an end to people using selfie sticks.  The collapsible metal poles are dangerous in crowds and ruin the view for other fans, he said.

The festival is also banning GoPro cameras.

GoPro cameras are often perched on the of telescoping sticks as well, said Squires, and some artists are also becoming concerned the HD-quality video could be used to bootleg their work.

Question of the day: Is it a good idea to ban selfie sticks and GoPros at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival?