Outdoor festivals being looked into after noise complaints

Will possible changes to the noise bylaw affect concert-goers?

Complaints from neighbouring communities about the noise from outdoor concerts has caused city council to look into re-examining the noise bylaw as it relates to outdoor shows.

It was discussed at the city council meeting that the leniency of the noise bylaw was to be looked at and possibly changed. This is something that could possibly affect venues and concert-goers alike.

Megan McCaffery, a frequent attendee of outdoor festivals, had some thoughts as to how this bylaw re-examining may change the outdoor festival experience in Calgary.

“I imagine if they were going to be less lenient, they would probably just make the curfew sooner,” McCaffery said. “They would probably cut it off rather than have a volume level, and if they did that I imagine that some of the shows could stay closer to the city, but they would probably have to shut down a lot sooner, which would probably suck.”

Produced by Kyle Pura

Councillor Druh Farrell brought the issue up at the city council meeting after hearing a number of complaints, some people were brought to tears, and said that the city will be looking into possible solutions so that the outdoor shows can continue without intruding as much into neighbouring communities.

With venues like Fort Calgary being so close to neighbouring communities, Farrell said that looking into different areas in the city for possible future venues may help the problem.

Photo by Justin Wilson“I know that the festival group is looking at dispersing festivals into a wider area because it also brings vibrancy and life to a community,” Farrell said. “If we’re going to start seeing more festivals, and we want to encourage them, then we need to figure out how they can be good neighbours. And that’s the task at hand.”

Farrell also said that another answer to this problem would be to simply include communities into the discussion as well.

“They can help identify issues,” Farrell said. “They can come up with some solutions and everyone can work together to mitigate the impacts.”

McCaffery said that if she were to try and fix the issue at hand, she would offer compensation to neighbouring communities as a method to appease both the concert-goers and the people who reside close to these shows.

“You could try giving them free tickets. Or even a payout, just a small gratis,” Mccaffery said. “It’s like when you have a neighbourhood wedding, it’s just common courtesy to give a card to all of your neighbours saying [that] we are going to be a little bit loud. Please don’t call the cops on us. You’re invited if you want to come eat some cake. It’s just a nice thing to do.”

As for how the noise bylaw will change in correlation with outdoor shows, Calgarians will just have to wait and see.

kpura@cjournal.ca