Kitchener allows Ever After festival but with noise restrictions

Kitchener city council has approved the Ever After Music Festival for this year but witha list of noise restrictions for the three day event.

The festival was held in 2015 and prompted a slew of noise complaints from neighbours, 57 in all. City councillors discussed ways to mitigate the noise and satisfy those neighbours, but still allow the festival to proceed.

Ward 7CouncillorBilIoannidistoldCBC News he was against the restrictions.

"I feltthat the event organizers had co-operated fully with city staff and by-law and implemented a lot of strategies to mitigate the noise complaints received," he said.

The electronic music festival is scheduled for Bingemans on June 3, 4 and 5th.

The restrictions that council citedinclude:

• The maximum decibel level cannot exceed 65 db within 100 metres from a residential area.
• Event organizers must have an on-site contact person to respond to city staff about any community concerns and noise complaints.
• Organizers must pay to have a Noise Officer to be assigned to the event.

Ioannidis says the organizers re-positioned the stage to direct it toward the countryside and away from any subdivision. As well, he says the festival isusing new equipment which will lower the bass deflection.

"I understand the public's concern," he said,"but the organization went through a lot to mitigate the issues."

Ioannidissays he wanted to see how this year's festival went with the organizers' changesbefore implementing any new noise restrictions because he was concerned that setting limits on decibels would set a precedent for future outdoor festivals.