Music festival cut short by wildfire
Shambhala organizers decide to take no chances with flames nine kilometres away
A wildfire has forced a popular music festival in Salmo in southern B.C. to end early and organizers say the decision will be a costly one.
Organizers for the Shambhala Music Festival said Saturday afternoon that the flames aren’t threatening the festival or attendees, but they made a decision to cancel Sunday’s entertainment after consulting with local government.
Music will play as scheduled Saturday night, but people were being asked to be prepared to leave the site on Sunday morning.
Festival founder Jimmy Bundschuh said organizers had a difficult choice to make.
“I obviously have mixed emotions about what’s going on,” he said. “You’re always trying to balance your decisions to make sure you’re making the right decisions to protect people.”
The Central Kootenay Regional District issued an evacuation alert on Saturday morning after the B.C. Wildfire Service reported that flames had crossed the Salmo River and were heading toward the town of Salmo, where the festival is being held.
An evacuation alert means people need to be ready to leave an area on a moment’s notice.
Andrew Bellerby with the regional district said officials have been working with festival organizers since the fire started Wednesday and extensive planning was done in the background in case an evacuation became necessary.
“Any kind of emergency planning precautions we’ve put forward, the Shambhala festival organizers have put in place immediately,” he said. “So there’s been lots of good working relationships.”
This year marked the festival’s 20th anniversary and organizers said about 15,000 people attended. Music was scheduled to play until at least 6:30 a.m. Monday, with attendees packing up and leaving the site later that day.
About $500,000 in revenue will be lost with Shambhala ending early, Bundschuh said.
“This is going to be a huge impact for the festival,” he said.
Getting so many people out of the area does present “some elevated concern,” said Chris Duffy with Emergency Management B.C., but staff from the department have been helping festival organizers develop contingency plans.
Bundschuh said he doesn’t expect this year’s departure to be different than any other year.
“I’d say that after doing it 19 times, the 20th time will be better than ever,” he said.
Fire information officer Karlie Shaughnessy said the fire, dubbed the McCormick Creek fire, was burning about nine kilometres away from the festival site Saturday afternoon.
Thirty-seven firefighters, four helicopters and six pieces of heavy equipment were being used to fight the 3.5-square-kilometre blaze.
Meanwhile, the evacuation alert for the nearby community of Nelway was upgraded to an evacuation order. About 23 homes are affected.