One of the new entrances to Whoop-Up Days at Exhibition Park. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

New security measures and cannabis policies announced for Whoop-Up Days

Aug 15, 2019 | 11:45 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Organizers of next week’s Whoop-Up Days festival are implementing a bevy of new policies they believe will help to keep the event safe for all attendees.

Exhibition Park COO Mike Warkentin says there are two main reasons they are announcing the changes for this year.

The first is that they are beefing up the StagEX Music Festival, and are therefore expecting more people to attend.

The second is that this will be the first Whoop-Up Days since the legalization of cannabis last fall.

“Cannabis will be prohibited on the Whoop Up Days Midway grounds and within the Pavilions, however, on the StagEX Music Festival site, we will have two designated consumption zones – one in the Fairstone Financial Premium Experience Area and one in the General Admission Area. That site will not open until 6:30 pm, so any cannabis consumption on site will be prohibited until 6:30 pm.”

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In developing the new rules around cannabis consumption, Warkentin says they had the benefit of being able to look at the policies of other festivals earlier this summer. He told media that, in the cases where pot was completely banned, people were bringing it in anyways, which made it tougher to enforce.

Before you even get into the festival, however, a new addition this year is that everyone who will be attending will have to go through a security check.

“Which will include mandatory bag checks and security pat down and wanding. We do encourage anyone with any personal items that potentially are on the prohibited list to leave at home so they avoid any complications coming into the grounds.”

Warkentin is not expecting the security checks to cause any significant delays for fair goers to get in.

Emergency Preparedness Manager with Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services Luke Palmer says the eastern section of Parkside Drive South that runs along Exhibition Park will be closed for the duration of Whoop Up Days.

“We’re seeing new events being held in the StagEX area. As a result, they’ve had to move their emergency exits that will spill right onto the roadway, so just to make sure that everyone is going to be safe in the event of an emergency where they need to exit, we’re not exiting people onto an active roadway.

Whoop Up Days runs from August 20th-24th at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge.

More details on the festival here.