Police are warning people not to attend. Some Grandview-Woodland residents are bracing for trouble. But an unsanctioned party that organizers anticipate will attract upwards of 9,000 people, planned for Grandview Park Aug. 21, appears to be going ahead.
Tom MacDonald who lives near the park worries the so called “Commercial Drive Street Party Part 2” set for Friday evening will spin out of control based on his experience of a similar event held to mark May Day.
MacDonald said the May Day party was loud, lasted until the early hours of the morning, saw participants urinate and defecate on residents’ properties and produced tons of garbage. One person was stabbed that evening. Residents also had to clean up the park the next day to make it safe for children, according to MacDonald.
He wants police and city officials to control event-goers’ access to the park.
“There’s got to be a way that you say, ‘Look, this is our park, you can’t just come in and use it for whatever reasons you want,’” he said. “I guess my feeling is that if this was happening in Shaughnessy or Point Grey on a regular basis — the two or three times a year that these people seem to surface — I think there’d be a plan to say, ‘No, this is not appropriate.’”
Organizers, who remain anonymous, argue that thousands of dollars are needed to secure a permit for any public event in the city and that “applicants are routinely waitlisted for years on end — if not downright denied.”
“We do not want to live somewhere where we can’t use public space. We do not need a license to dance, to listen to music, to gather freely. Our hope is that those in attendance will be inspired to organize their own events, and will begin to conceptualize the potential of an act as simple as being in the street,” their Facebook event page states.
Vancouver Police Department spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham said police are focused on public safety concerns raised by residents and business owners.
He described the event as a demonstration or a protest under the guise of a street party. Organizers have refused to respond to questions from police.
“Certainly, the vast majority of the crowd in May was peaceful. Unfortunately, there was a small group that took it upon themselves to cause conflict in the neighbourhood and policing is reactive to what is presented to them,” he said. “The officers will react to what happens [Aug. 21] and our reaction will be proportionate. We would hope that it’s a peaceful event — that would be the ultimate goal, but certainly it’s shaping up to similar what it did in May with a lack of cooperation, a lack of planning, a lack of resources and a lack of respect for the people who live and work in the area.”
He said police are not contemplating blocking access to the park, which he said is there for the enjoyment of residents, but there will be a police presence whose size will depend on the crowd.
MacDonald maintains that while public space is for the public, the use of it should be respectful to neighbours.
Grandview-Woodland resident Garth Mullins said he isn’t opposed to such events. He said he lives in the neighbourhood because of its diverse cultural and political events.
“I’m happy to see the unpermitted, free and creative culture blossoming again in the heart of Commercial Drive and East Vancouver. The idea that if people want to do anything they need to get expensive permits, [give] some kind of pay for extra policing and go through the also expensive process of getting insurance — that actually squashes a whole lot of culture and Commercial Drive is traditionally where culture grows,” he said.
Several Facebook pages are promoting events at Grandview Park Aug. 21, including a page called “F*** the Permits Street Party and March” that bills itself as “in response to Vancouver Police threatening promoters of ‘unsanctioned events.’”
A Commercial Drive Street Party organizer contacted via Facebook last week would only answer questions about the party anonymously via email, claiming organizers of unsanctioned events have been threatened with fines.
Meanwhile, Fincham told the Courier: “I can appreciate the right to demonstrate, I can appreciate their right to protest, and I can certainly appreciate their freedom of speech. We go to great lengths to ensure people have those freedoms and are protected with those freedoms, but certainly we do expect some co-operation or at least sharing of some plans so we can keep them safe and it looks like this demonstration group has no interest in protecting those who attend the event.”
@naoibh
