Whoop-Up Days will be seeing increased security measures this year, including a checkpoint at the entrance to Exhibition Park with a mandatory bag check, pat-down and metal detector wands.
Warkentin said he doesn’t expect the new security measures to cause any delays, adding that people are encouraged to leave prohibited items at home so they can “process people into the park as quickly as possible.”
Prohibited items include things like bicycles, skateboards, pocketknives, weapons and alcohol. A complete list of prohibited items and rules is on the Whoop-Up Days website.
New security measures aren’t the only changes coming to Whoop-Up Days this year. A new cannabis policy allows guests to bring weed to the festival and consume it at two designated areas at StagEX that open after 6:30 p.m. This decision, Warkentin explained, was made after considering what other festivals have done.
“However, StagEX being on… the progressive curve of what we’re doing here at Whoop-Up Days, we also wanted to make sure our guests who do want to safely consume cannabis on site have the opportunity to do so.”
Finding a parking spot at the Exhibition Park will also be difficult this year because of changes to layout and road closures. The east portion of Parkside Drive S., where many people have parked in previous years, will be closed during the festival in case of emergency evacuation.
“We’re seeing new events being held in the StagEX area. As a result, they’ve had to move their emergency exits that will spill right onto the roadway,” said Luke Palmer, Lethbridge’s emergency preparedness manager.
“So [it’s] just to make sure that everyone is going to be safe in the event of an emergency where they need to exit,” he added, “[so that] we’re not exiting people onto an active roadway.”
A free park-and-ride shuttlebus will be offered from the Enmax Centre to account for the decrease in parking space.