WATCH ABOVE: Attendees of Bestival lash out against long wait to get off Hanlan’s Point. Mark Carcasole reports.
TORONTO — Crowds attending multiple events on Toronto Island over the weekend overwhelmed water taxi and ferry services.
Bestival music festival, featuring big-name acts like Florence and the Machine and Nas, coupled with the Nike Women’s Run and Hope Volleyball all in one weekend proved a nightmare for those seeking a ride back to Toronto. Some complained of waits as long as two hours to get back to the city.
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Water taxi operators said people were jumping on the boats as soon they pulled up to the docks.
“You’d pull a boat in and the crowd surge would be so much,” said Ralph McQuinn, owner of Toronto Harbour Water Taxi. He said he can accommodate 12 passengers at a time, which did not sit well with the crowds.
“Oh my god, there’d be 12 people on the bow, and still people pushing forward.”
Waterfront Parks manager James Dann said the ferries experienced “one of our busiest weekends of the year.”
He said the crowds attempting to leave the island after the music festival ended Saturday certainly posed a problem, even with the entire fleet of compatible vessels running.
Toronto police helped control the crowds and said there were no incidents.
With files from Mark Carcasole
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