WayHome festival gets mixed reviews from music fans, residents

Three days and more than 30,000 people later, the WayHome Music and Arts Festival in Oro-Medonte has wrapped up.

It was a big success for music lovers, but didn't win fans amongst some people who live near the concert site. For 17-year-olds Emma and Marissa, WayHome was an experience they'll never forget.

“Oh my God, like best thing ever! It was my first festival and I feel like nothing will ever beat it.”

They came with some parental supervision just in case anything happened, but from mom's point of view, it was as good as possible

“Everyone was around, it seemed to be safe, and we saw no negative activity, no troubles,” says Suzanne Sauve.

On Monday morning, the last of the concert goers were packing up their tents and rave reviews were easy to find.

“I’ve been to three or four different ones in Ireland, exact same as this, but this was a whole different level,” says one concert goers. “Everyone was so nice and chilled out, good vibes and everyone was just having a good time.”

Local businesses got to cash in too. Deluxe Taxi Company in Barrie was fully staffed and had 35 cars on the road, 24 hours a day during the festival.

Even though many people were happy with how the festival went, the deputy mayor’s phone was ringing off the hook with people calling to complain.

“One of the groups was extremely loud and vulgarity was every second or third word in the song, and it could be heard for a long way away,” says Ralph Hough.

John Jacquemain and his wife heard the music well into the night at their home in Oro-Station. They say they couldn't escape the noise, no matter what they did.

“The sound was quite loud even air conditioning and the windows closed and it was just a thumping sound more or less and it kept going on and on,” he says.

Council will get some feedback from bylaw officers on Tuesday on whether concert organizers followed all the zoning rules.  However, from what Hough saw with his own eyes, it appears there were infractions related to noise and to land use.

“I would say for sure, yes they were in violation of the zoning bylaws.”

Oro-Medonte council will meet on Tuesday behind closed doors to decide if they'll issue an events permit for the next big Burl’s Creek event, The Boots and Hearts Festival, which is coming up in two weeks.