Unrestricted liquor licences may be brand new to most outdoor, all-ages concerts in B.C., but they’re business as usual for the Burnaby Blues & Roots Festival.
Recent changes to provincial liquor laws have allowed gated, all-ages music festivals to offer alcohol anywhere onsite, rather than in a fenced area. But for the 15th annual Deer Lake Park show, serving liquor anywhere on the grounds won’t be an experiment.
“For the last four or five years, we’ve kind of been a test for the B.C. Liquor Board,” said Jared Bowles of the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. “We haven’t had a physical beer garden – the entire park has always been licensed.
“(Fans) can go get a beer, a glass of wine, a cider, and then take it back into the park and hang out with their friends and family.”
To avoid serving alcohol to minors, patrons are ID’d and given a wristband at the beer service area. From there, they can take their purchases from the top of the park to the front row.
“You don’t have to spend the day in the back corner of the park while your friends are out in the sun. You can grab your cocktail and join the fun.”
The new liquor laws also allow festivals to serve mixed drinks, though Bowles said the blues fest will stick to its traditional selection of alcohol.
“Because it’s a new offering, we’re going to check out the demand a little bit,” he said. “We’re going to continue to offer beer, cider, wine and sangria, which was something new that we offered last year.
“If our guests have feedback and they’re asking for (mixed drinks), that’s something we’ll definitely look at for 2015.”
In the years the festival has operated without a fenced beer garden, Bowles said they haven’t had to make changes to security, and they don’t anticipate any problems this year.
“Our guests that come are just there to enjoy the show,” he said. “In the time that I’ve been here, we haven’t had any problems at all, really. We’re going to continue as status quo.
“With the change in legislation, it shows that what we’ve been doing for the last couple years has been working and the government sees no issues with expanding this to other festivals.”
