A few days ago, Mad Decent's annual Block Party had a lot of festival-goers up in arms about its extensive restrictions on what attendees weren't allowed to bring with them, and while some of these banned items were obvious (drugs, weapons, fireworks, etc.), plenty of other items that were also banned (LED lights, pacifiers, and even Kandi bracelets) had much of the EDM community thinking the restrictions were going too far, including Insomniac' Events founder, Pasquale Rotella. Out of the plethora of things attendees weren't allowed to bring to the Block Party, however, they were allowed to bring an empty CamelBak Water Pack. Not only unbelievably convenient for day-long raging outside in the heat, a CamelBak also ends up becoming a beacon for safety at a festival to anyone else who you come across that needs a drink — there's no telling how many people have been saved from dehydration all thanks to a friend or a kind stranger carrying this nifty knapsack of water.
A CamelBak is arguably a festival-goer's best friend. And now, Electric Zoo wants to ban people from bringing one into their festival this year.
After the tragic deaths of a couple of attendants at last year's Electric Zoo festival, EZoo has been planning extensive efforts to make this year's Electric Zoo festival substantially safer. They're beefing up security in the form of undercover cops and drug-sniffing dogs, doing meticulous background checks on all of the EZoo workers, and are even requiring all attendants to watch a PSA on molly, a la high-school health class style. While some people understand why such extensive safety measures are being made by EZoo this year, others have been rolling their eyes at the overblown child-proofing, but when EZoo announced on Facebook yesterday that they wouldn't be allowing anyone to bring in a Camelbak into the festival, the EDM community shifted even further against EZoo's overzealous safety crusade.
As expected, the announcement was met with massive resentment. Plenty of commenters on EZoo's post brought up the numerous fallacies about this new ban, from the simple inconvenience of long lines at the water stations and having to miss out on part of a DJ's set in order to grab some water, to more substantial points like the extra amount of littering that will come in result of disposable water cups and the fact that a cup-size of water won't provide enough sustenance for a day-long festival.
The biggest point, however, is the fact that the intended use of a CamelBak (ample hydration for the wearer and friends and/or strangers) does way more good than the unintended use of a CamelBak (smuggling illicit substances) does bad. And Mat Zo perfectly summed up that argument on his Twitter today:
Obviously camel backs should be banned, clearly trying to stay hydrated and not dead is wrong and evil
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
You people have some nerve. How fucking dare you try and save money by not buying water from the festival at an outrageous price
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
You people have some nerve. How fucking dare you try and save money by not buying water from the festival at an outrageous price
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
Youre disgusting
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
I have a great idea, lets solve the problem of people dying from dehydration at festivals by making it impossible to bring your own water
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
So backpacks to carry water are just gonna turn everyone into drug crazed zombies, clearly
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
Its not like drug use has been around before agriculture, i think this camelback thing is a right step on the war on drugs. Next: war on sex
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
.@ElectricZooNY totally with you on the camelback ban, theres not enough death from dehydration at festivals already
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
Just put 200,000 camelbacks on my rider 🙂
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
.@ElectricZooNY If youre going to get on an anti drugs crusade then ban alcohol at your festival too
— Mat Zo (@Mat_Zo_MRSA) August 13, 2014
While Mat Zo wasn't entirely correct alluding that Electric Zoo was banning CamelBaks in order to make mass profit off of water sales (water cups and water stations are evidently free), his general thesis is right on the money: there's nothing wrong with an accessory that's intended for keeping people hydrated and alive.
There's still a couple of weeks before EZoo kicks off, so there's still some time for EZoo to reconsider the CamelBak ban, but with EZoo being very adamant about these amplified safety measures, there's a pretty good chance they'll be fine enduring any and all criticism hurled at them.
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