High winds forced the Edmonton Folk Music Festival to shut down Thursday night.
The festival at Gallagher Park was shut down after the wind picked up, just after 8 p.m.
Festival organizers said the site was evacuated with the safety of their patrons, performers and volunteers in mind.
“What if I had not made the call and someone got killed?” festival producer Terry Wickham said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen with the weather, so you have to go with the best advice you have at the time. Those weather calls, you just can’t second guess yourself on them.”
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People at the festival were asked to proceed to the Park n’ Ride bus stop to safely leave the area.
It didn’t take long for the hill to clear out. The on-site meteorologist said the evacuation was necessary because a bigger storm was on the way.
The high winds ended up skirting around the site, but Wickham said it was better to be safe than sorry.
“The advice I got from the professionals in that area was it could be very dangerous so we had to make the call,” he said.
“We were advised that the winds that were coming in 15 to 20 minutes may miss us but if it hits us it’s going to be even stronger than what we had before. So for safety we had no choice but to call the show.”
Global Edmonton weather expert Tina Simpkin explained a gust front was responsible for the high winds that hit the festival site.
“All thunderstorms have an updraft and a downdraft. Once it starts raining within the storm, cool air is generated. As long as the updraft is strong, the rain-cooled air stays aloft. When the storm starts to die, or the cool air gets separated from the up-draft, the cold air rushes to the ground. This leads to the formation of shelf clouds and gust fronts.
Simpkin said Thursday night’s storm was a classic case of a storm dying and strong winds pushing out way ahead of the storm.
“It wasn’t two systems; it was one line of storms producing an outflow boundary (gust front) ahead of the line.”
She said wind gusts of between 60 km/h and 70 km/h were recorded.
Watch below: Hundreds of concert goers were sent running for cover Thursday evening at the Edmonton Folk Festival after a sudden storm blew in. Julia Wong has the latest details Friday morning.
Many in the crowd Thursday night agreed with the decision to stop the shows.
“You’ve got to do it to keep everyone safe so if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go,” Laurel Allison said.
“Better safe than sorry. There’s been other festivals that you’ve seen where people get hurt because there’s storms so it’s better to just shut it down early.”
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Festival officials said the site was evacuated after two performances on the main stage and patrons will only receive a refund for Thursday night tickets, but not weekend passes.
Guests who had Thursday night tickets are being invited to attend Friday’s show for free. They’re asked to go to the Bennett Centre at 9703 – 94 Street between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday with their wristband or receipt to receive a Friday single ticket.
If people cannot make the Friday night performance, they are eligible for a refund. If tickets were purchased through Ticketmaster, people should email fansupport@ticketmaster.ca or call 1-855-985-4357. If tickets were purchased through the festival box office, email foreverfolkfest@edmontonfolkfest.org with the purchaser’s name, daytime phone number and purchase location.
“If it’s a weekend pass, you’re missing two artists out of 66,” Wickham said. “So I think people understand that. We won’t be offering refunds there but if you bought a Thursday night alone, yes, we will be offering refunds.”
Watch below: Dangerous winds picked up in the capital region Thursday night, forcing the Edmonton Folk Music Festival to shut down and evacuate the site. Festival organizers say they made the call out of the safety of patrons, performers and volunteers. Sarah Kraus has the details.
Shakey Graves and The Decemberists, who were set to perform Thursday night, will be invited back next year.
A video screen and tent were damaged, but Wickham said no injuries were reported.
Thursday was the first day of the four-day festival. The show is expected to go on as planned on Friday.