Details surrounding the recent announcement of a smoke-free Bluesfest are hazy.
This year’s festival, which takes place July 4-14 at LeBreton Flats, near the Canadian War Museum, will be “completely smoke-free” with no designated smoking areas, according to Mike Rouleau, director of operations for RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest.
The decision “was based on requests by our city and NCC partners, on feedback and requests we’ve received from patrons and just the way society is moving,” Rouleau says.
On Jan. 29, organizers announced on Facebook that a performance by blues legend B.B. King will close Bluesfest 2013.
Organizers say if a musician lights up onstage, the show will go on. But they have yet to give details on how they will enforce a smoke-free policy in a culture where cigarettes are commonplace.
“It will be strongly suggested and enforced as much as we can,” Rouleau says. “Whoever is going to do the enforcement – we don’t know who that is – for example, can’t like run up on stage. So there are things that we have to work around.”
The Ottawa Council on Smoking and Health and the Academy of Medicine Ottawa announced the policy.
Both congratulated Bluesfest and the National Capital Commission for “adopting a voluntary 100-per-cent smoke-free policy, beginning this summer,” in a Jan. 21 press release.
There was speculation about whether last year’s festival would be smoke-free when the City of Ottawa adopted a no-smoking bylaw for outdoor patios, city-owned parks, and beaches.
The bylaw does not apply to the NCC land on which Bluesfest takes place.
The NCC does not have the power to enact similar policies or enforce a smoking ban, says Jean Wolff, spokesman for the federal agency.
The Jan. 21 press release “is inaccurate in the details because there is no new policy at the NCC,” Wolff says.
This year is, however, the first time Bluesfest will be required to comply with the NCC’s current policy, which discourages smoking at events.
Last summer, the agency added a clause to event permit contracts that requires permit holders to clearly advertise that people attending the event should voluntarily not smoke.
“We advertise that we want activities to be in a smoke-free environment. It means that we discourage people to smoke and that we respect other people’s space,” Wolff says.
Smoke-free spaces like the one proposed by Bluesfest are meant to limit health hazards posed by second-hand smoke.
“Second-hand smoke can affect your health even for a short time, like within minutes,” says Dr. Aly Abdulla, vice-president of the Academy of Medicine Ottawa.
“It can irritate your eyes, nose, lungs, and allergies or breathing issues like asthma.
"Of course, we already know about lung cancer, heart disease, lung and ear infections, and asthma."