Some people had a little too much fun during the Funtastic slo-pitch and music festival at the Vernon army camp.
Vernon RCMP reported that from Friday night through to Monday afternoon, 14 people were taken to cells to sleep things off for being drunk in a public place.
A total of 19 violation traffic tickets were issued, along with 13 liquor violation tickets.
Despite the numbers, police said there were no major issues at the Vernon portion of the annual event.
“There were very few incidents considering the crowds at various times on the grounds,” said RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk.
“There was lots of police and security presence which alleviated any potential problems as incidents were dealt with immediately, and any problem people were escorted off the grounds.”
Crowds were estimated as high as 6,000, particularly on Sunday night for the fireworks show and a performance by legendary Canadian band Trooper, and the total crowd number for the three nights of music is estimated at 16,000.
ICM Security, which worked the Vernon beer gardens throughout the weekend, evicted approximately 60 people over the duration of the tournament, which drew the praise of Funtastic executive director Jim McEwan.
Ideally, said McEwan, he’d like to see no arrests at Funtastic but admits that’s not going to happen.
“You get that many people in an area, over four days, 14 arrests is not that many,” he said.
Meetings are held before, during and after Funtastic with security partners to ensure the safety of participants and attendees.
“It’s one of the things we’ve prided ourselves on, and why Funtastic is a safe event,” said McEwan. “We have those working relationships with not only the RCMP but military police and bylaws.
“We’ll do a debrief ourselves, take a look at what worked and what didn’t work that we need to fix for the upcoming year.”
McEwan said Funtastic officials sit down with an RCMP liaison and members during the event to find out what, if anything, needs fixing immediately.
“It can be something like raising a light or changing the angle of a light so there are no blind or dark spots,” he said.
