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Kelowna  

Quiet COG weekend

It was a much quieter weekend for RCMP patrolling Center of Gravity than the past festival years.

Cpl. Joe Duncan says there were several drug charges, liquor charges and drug seizures, but overall, there were fewer calls for service during the three-day event.

“The crowds were relatively well behaved. It was a bit of a younger crowd than last year, more teens around 14 to 18, so over all it was business as usual.”

There were several drug overdoses on Saturday, and some festival goers were taken to hospital. However, Duncan notes there were fewer issues than last year.

That might be because of a lower turn out, with about 24,000 people attending and 80 per cent of tickets sold.

Festival Organizer Scott Emslie says the reason for the lower attendance could be the change in weekends, which moved the festival away from the busy August long weekend, or the fact there are many more festivals taking place across the province during the summer.

“We are definitely going to be looking at a weekend change (for next year). We would definitely prefer the August long weekend, but I know the stakeholders will have input,” he says, adding there will be discussions during the next month about 2016’s event.

Following cancellation of the Keloha festival, Emslie changed up Center of Gravity, moving away from strictly electronic acts to include more bands.

“We had a number of Keloha-esque bands this year, like Yukon Blonde, and I think that diversity really helps the festival, it broadens the audience. I like that formula, and it’s more entertaining to have a mix of genres.”

Emslie says overall he was happy with the event and says the crowd was very controlled, which makes it a good year.



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