{"id":545563,"date":"2026-03-18T23:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545563\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T23:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:44:16","slug":"provinces-byob-plan-draws-mixed-reaction-from-festivalgoers-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/545563\/","title":{"rendered":"Province’s BYOB plan draws mixed reaction from festivalgoers, organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A provincial proposal to allow people to bring their own alcohol to certain outdoor events is drawing mixed reaction from Ottawa residents and festival organizers.<\/p>\n

Under the new regulations, set to take effect April 30, community and cultural events ranging from farmers’ markets to multi-day music festivals will be able to apply for a municipal permit allowing attendees to bring their own alcohol.<\/p>\n

Ottawa’s bylaws currently prohibit drinking in public places, although a pilot project has exempted eight municipal parks<\/a>, and the city’s community service committee will soon review Ottawa’s public drinking policy.<\/p>\n

If the city loosens its rules, the province said it would then need to “establish a local process” regarding the new permits.<\/p>\n

\"TaraTara Shannon is executive director of Ottawa Festival Network. She says she understands the appeal of the province’s ‘bring-your-own’ alcohol plan, but notes the festivals that rely on alcohol sales won’t want to participate. (Patrick Louiseize\/CBC)Festival sector cautious<\/p>\n

Tara Shannon, executive director of the Ottawa Festival Network, which represents more than 170 events in the National Capital Region, said the province’s announcement on Tuesday raises questions.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re still very early in figuring out what the details actually mean,” she said, noting that whether festivals can opt in will ultimately be up to the city.<\/p>\n

She said alcohol sales are a key revenue stream for local festivals, a sector that generates roughly $350 million a year and supports about 30,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

“To bring something to the table that could potentially be detrimental to that is a little bit alarming,\u201d Shannon said, adding that the local festival economy is already “very vulnerable.”<\/p>\n

She said the idea also raises concerns about safety and liability at events where people are allowed to bring their own booze.<\/p>\n

“We do have Smart Serve for a reason,” she said, referring to the provincial program that trains people in the responsible sale, service and delivery of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, she agreed the idea will have popular appeal.<\/p>\n

“I get the romanticism of it,” Shannon said. “Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to just grab a bottle of wine and go to the park and listen to live music?<\/p>\n

\"AMaple Williams says she sees the potential benefits of the province’s ‘bring-your-own’ alcohol plan, so long as there’s appropriate oversight at the events. (Cameron Mahler\/CBC)Pros and cons<\/p>\n

Ottawans asked about the province’s bring-your-own alcohol proposal had mixed reactions.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary,” said Steven Rankin. “They probably sell it on site, so that should be good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maple Williams supports the idea, but said event organizers must bear the responsibility of monitoring attendees.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t see that there\u2019s a problem at all,” she said. “If you\u2019re organizing a big event, there are big responsibilities with that.”<\/p>\n

Nathan Piggott said allowing festivalgoers to bring their own will make those events more affordable.<\/p>\n

“The price point of really enjoying yourself at a festival is definitely too steep,” he said. “It\u2019ll definitely bring more of a crowd.”<\/p>\n

The city said it’s reviewing the province’s proposal “to understand how it may affect events held on City property, including in parks.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-545563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}