BY DOREEN PETRIE
GUEST OPINION
A national award for the Cavendish Beach Music Festival - festival of the year. Congratulations, I guess. We attended this year for the third time but left feeling disappointed and disillusioned by the overall planning of the event.
We purchased early bird accessible weekend passes (I have a mobility disability), but were unable to access the event on Sunday. Arriving around 3 p.m., we were directed up the access road to the event, along with hundreds of other vehicles in line, only to discover the parking lot was full.
There was obviously no communication between the parking attendants and RCMP on the main road (still directing traffic to enter the access road to a full parking area). The majority of vehicles still accessing the site had prepaid for parking, however the lot was full, as on-site park and pay was available as well.
We were advised to turn around and turn left onto the main road and proceed to the Cavendish Tourist Mart. We advised the attendants that RCMP were not permitting left turns out of the parking lot area, but they didn’t believe us as those traffic flow restrictions were not to be in effect until later that night.
Arriving at the main road, we were not permitted to turn left, so had to make a right turn, turn around, and wait again in traffic. Arriving at the Tourist Mart, we were advised that a shuttle bus could drop us off somewhere on the concert site, but would not be available for pick up after the event.
Not physically able to walk the distance that would have been required, we had no choice but to abandon any hopes of attending on Sunday. Pre-paying for parking would only have been the solution if parking spots were guaranteed and not oversold.
Choosing to spend a portion of my disability pension on travel, food, hotel, bridge toll etc. on P.E.I. was not a light decision to make, but I justified it by expecting to be able to attend the event. We left P.E.I. a day early and will be looking elsewhere to enjoy a summer weekend next year.
I have reached out to the CBMF, as well as the P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities, with no response or results from either. I have never been one to use my disability as an excuse to get better or preferred treatment. I have always been the type of person who, if possible, because I am having what I call a good day physically, will leave an accessible parking spot available to someone who might be in a more challenged situation physically than I am, and park in a regular spot nearby.
However now I feel that I must speak up for others like myself who were left with no option but to feel rejected and who also wasted money on ticket purchases as well.
The motto of the P.E.I. council is “dedicated to promoting the full participation and inclusion of people with disabilities in Island society.” Obviously, this is currently not happening on P.E.I., especially at the CBMF.
- Doreen Petrie is a resident of Dartmouth, N.S. who feels disappointed with the treatment she received at this year’s Cavendish Beach Music Festival.