Three people attending the Soundwave electronic music festival at West Edmonton Mall’s World Waterpark were transported to hospital early Sunday morning.
AHS told Global News two people were transported in stable condition and one in serious, potentially life-threatening condition.
READ MORE: 6 taken to hospital from electronic dance music party at Edmonton mall
WATCH BELOW: Three people were taken to hospital early Sunday morning, one in serious condition, after attending a rave at West Edmonton Mall water park. Kendra Slugoski reports.
The waterpark was the site for the event which one website billed as “the wildest indoor beach party” featuring DJs Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike.
The event was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and end at 2 a.m.
It’s not the first time patrons of Soundwave have been transported to hospital. In October 2018, six people were taken to hospital, four of which were in serious condition. Details on why they were hospitalized were never disclosed due to privacy concerns.
Watch below: Changes made ahead of the 2018 edition of Calgary’s Chasing Summer Festival are aimed at making the event safer for everyone. Bindu Suri filed this report in August 2018.
The Soundwave website includes a long list of rules to be followed by attendees at Friday’s event, including not to bring any drugs or illegal substances, weapons, flammable items or outside food or beverages. Attendees have to be 18 or older to gain entry to the event and visitors were not allowed “in and out privileges.”
READ MORE: On-site medical team aims to keep crowds safe at Calgary elecronic music festival
Global News reached out to West Edmonton Mall for comment but did not hear back.
“The city is concerned,” said Nicole Poirier, director of civic events and festivals at the City of Edmonton.
“Electronic music is one of those music genres that does have some activities that happen at them that may be not as safe as at some of the other music events,” she added. “Having said that, we’re looking at ways to work with the industry to ensure that we can put into place the best practices that are required, so that if you choose to attend one of these events, that at the end of the day you’re able to go home safe and sound.”
While speaking to Global News on Monday, Poirier said that since city council was asked to consider a temporary moratorium on raves last year, city administration has been researching how to make electronic dance music events safer.
“In June of 2018, council directed administration to go away and do some more work; to work with industry representatives — from promoters and producers to academics to the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, our Edmonton police colleagues as well as our colleagues at Alberta Health Services,” she said.
“So we’ve been having some engagement sessions with those groups. We’ve also met with some focus groups, so people who attend raves and electronic dance music events. We’ve done a lot of research with other municipalities, so we’ve sent out questions to other municipalities and we’re getting feedback from them. And we’ve also conducted a public survey to look what’s happening at these events and get some direct feedback from the participants from these events.”
Poirier said city staff are now working to tabulate the results of their research and they expect to present their findings to city council in the second quarter of 2019.
– with files from Global News’ Phil Heidenreich and Emily Mertz
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