EDITORIAL: Watering the blues

It seems there’s a bit of a hue and cry over water at the recent Thunder Bay Blues Festival.

More to the point, several attendees have complained they were stopped from carrying in empty water bottles, which they wanted to fill up at the free watering station inside the Marina Park grounds.

Bob Halvorsen, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium general manager, says it’s a combination of security concerns and smuggling of alcohol into the site and business protection for the vendors who help cover the cost of the festival.

Yes, some festivals do allow water containers in, the Ottawa Blues Festival being the most notable in Canada. Bonnaroo, in Manchester,?Tenn. is also in that camp.

Others do not, including London and Windsor.

What’s needed here is some sort of compromise.

In heat like we’ve had this summer, water is a necessity. The city-owned watering station does have a fountain attached, providing free water for all.?Perhaps Blues Festival organizers can provide plastic cups, readily available inside the beer garden, to those who want to stay hydrated throughout the day.

A couple of dollars isn’t much to ask for a bottle of water, but understandably, not everyone has the disposable income at hand to pay for it. This might help alleviate those concerns.