A top official with the Boots and Hearts music festival says he expects “a massive improvement in both the traffic side but also in public safety” for this year’s event.
Todd Jenereaux, executive vice-president of Burl's Creek Event Grounds, Republic Live and Boots and Hearts Limited Partnership, was in front of Oro-Medonte Township council on Wednesday to share updates for this year’s festival, which will be held Aug. 8 to 11 at the Highway 11/Line 8 venue.
He started his deputation by acknowledging some of the mistakes that were made last year.
Jenereaux listed five that had a significant impact: eliminating Wednesday as a "load-in" day for campers; increasing the number of reserved RV campsites; a high volume of single-day patrons, especially on the Friday; adding an extra single-day parking area for the busiest day (Friday); and a growing number of vehicle drop-offs, taxis and rideshare vehicles.
“The first point is on me,” he said. “We have a history of opening for camping on Wednesday, even though we don’t have any production or music until Thursday. That was to get folks situated, get vehicles in and get people set up.
“I decided last year we didn’t need that extra day. There was nothing particularly for campers and patrons to do, so I reduced that and that was a mistake on my part," Jenereaux added.
He said camping will open on Wednesday this year.
“Historically, we’ll get 30 per cent of our campers in on Wednesday and we have a ton of space to queue people inside our property,” Jenereaux said.
To make getting into the festival easier and more efficient, organizers have reduced the number of reserved RV spots for faster load-in, created a new entrance off Line 7 and have implemented "geofence" restrictions for Uber and Lyft, which should reduce congestion.
A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. It can be dynamically generated, as in a radius around a point location, or match a predefined set of virtual perimeters, such as buildings or commercial facilities.
Jenereaux told council he thinks the changes will be noticeable not only for their improvements, but also because he’s expecting a smaller crowd than last year.
“With slightly lesser crowds, I expect, you know, in conjunction with the traffic changes and the design changes, a massive improvement in both the traffic side, but also in public safety," he said.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police, there were 40 criminal charges laid at the 2023 event, including seven for sexual assault. There were 11 criminal charges at the 2022 event.
Over the course of last year’s festival, the OPP said officers responded to 174 calls for service, including 21 for "violent" Criminal Code infractions, 11 property crime violations, 11 traffic violations and two drug violations.
While the crowds might be smaller, the police presence will be larger.
Shawn Binns, Oro-Medonte's chief administrative officer, said adjustments have been made by the OPP for paid-duty staffing deployment for traffic management as well as security plans.
While the exact number of paid-duty officers working the festival this year isn’t known, the OPP increased its complement last year to 146, which was up from 128 in 2022.
Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw said he was pleased to hear about the improvements.
“Thank you very much and appreciate the steps you’ve taken to address the concerns that were identified and I know it’s been a lot of time working and money in order to provide an enhanced solution,” Greenlaw said.
Following Jenereaux’s deputation, council approved special-event permits for the 2024 Boots and Hearts and a new event, All Your Friends Festival, which will be held on Aug. 23-24.
Council approved both permits contingent on receiving sign-off from all required agencies and the execution of a memorandum of understanding.
For those attending this or any other music festival, the OPP recommends the following safety suggestions:
- Use the buddy system. Know where your friends are and pick a meeting place in the event you get separated
- Keep your cellphone charged
- Know where you can go for help, such as a security checkpoint, paramedic staging point or a police command post
- Keep track of your own drinks and understand how alcohol or cannabis affect you. If you suddenly feel more intoxicated than typical, seek medical help and stay close to people you trust
- Stay with people you know and don’t feel pressured into doing something you don’t want to.
The OPP also recommends the following for young adults attending music festivals:
- If you are of legal age, use alcohol or cannabis in moderation; don’t binge drink or over-consume
- Do not accept drinks or cannabis from people you don’t know
- Understand how alcohol or cannabis affects you personally and seek medial assistance if you suddenly feel more intoxicated than typical
- Stay hydrated. Alcohol mixed with hot weather can lead to heat exhaustion/stroke
- Know who you will be with and where you will stay. Don’t show up without a plan in place
- Have an alternative plan in the event of extreme weather/excessive rain
- Know how and where to access emergency services at the event
- Become familiar with the festival grounds so at any given time you know where you are
- Have an emergency contact on standby in case you want to leave the event and a pre-arranged pickup point.
