Cavendish Beach Music Festival proposes security changes

The Cavendish Beach Music Festival, one of the biggest events of the summer in P.E.I., is planning some changes to better control crowds and the serving of alcohol.

The proposed changes were discussed at a public meeting Wednesday night with residents of the Cavendish area. About 50 people attended.

The changes include staggering when crowds will leave the grounds.

Some of the concert venues, including the main beer tent, would close15 minutes earlier than previously.

In others such as the VIP, corporate and kitchen tents service will be extended half an hour. Music will keep going until 11:45 p.m. in the kitchen tent, 45 minutesafter the headliner is done on the mainstage.

Whitecap Entertainment CEO Jeff Squires said the staggered closing times should ease the end-of-show stress on RCMP and security, as well as bringing noise levels down for locals.

Other changes to combat over-consumption of alcohol are being proposed. At last call there will be a two drink order maximum, down from four in previous years. Asix-foot fence is planned forbetween the licensed and unlicensed areas. Last year it was only four feet and there weresome problems with drinks being passed over to the unlicensed area.

As an experiment, the company wants to make the Rod Stewart show, which falls the day before the Cavendish Beach Music Festival, an all ages event.

Squires said if that goes well they may look at doing the same for the whole festival.

All the changes are just proposals at this point, with the public meeting part of the process to have them approved. Most people at the meeting seemed to support the changes.

The public has one week to submit their thoughts and then the decision will be made by council at the end of May.