Local police said they were thrilled with the weekend's well-behaved Otalith Music Festival crowd.
"It went really well," said Const. Marcel Midlane of the Ucluelet RCMP. "We had no issues with Otalith this year; it was a success from our standpoint."
Midlane commended the festival's organizers for running shuttles back and forth between Tofino and Ucluelet to get the festival's beer drinkers home without driving and added the fairground's un-walled beer garden was handled well.
"There was nobody out of control or causing problems on the grounds that we saw and they had lots of security there, which was great," Midlane said. "It was overall a really successful weekend for Otalith."
Not everyone got on board the good behaviour train as some festivalers were nabbed with open alcohol in public spaces outside
the fairgrounds, according to Midlane who explained drinking in public is illegal in Ucluelet and associated with a $230 fine.
"We poured out lots of booze and there were violation tickets issued to people who were wandering around town with open liquor, but other than that it went really well," he said.
While Ukee's police detachment calls in reinforcements from other Island detachments during the community's Ukee Days festivities, no extra cops were brought in to assist with the Otalith crowd, according to Midlane.
He said two officers patrolled the fairgrounds and were assisted by the detachment's volunteer auxiliary constable team. He said last year's Otalith crowd caused a few problems and he was thrilled to see a more positive vibe this year.
"This year was probably even better, there was actually no problems reported at the event. We were there just to oversee that everybody was acting well and they were, they were well behaved, the times were great," he said.
Midlane noted two noise complaints came in from Ucluelet residents during the festival but the music concluded prior to Ucluelet's noise bylaw kicking in at 11 p.m. "Everything was on schedule, it was well run, it was done the right way," he said.
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