Whiteout organizers cap ticket sales at 11,000
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/04/2019 (1809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Whiteout street party organizers have reduced the number of tickets available for Thursday night’s downtown event.
In an attempt to control the size of the crowd at the party outside Bell MTS Place for Game 5 of the Winnipeg Jets-St. Louis Blues NHL playoff series, only 11,000 tickets have been issued — 4,000 fewer than previously allowed.
“In consultation with the police, we’ve agreed to reduce the capacity for Thursday night,” Kevin Donnelly, senior vice-president of venues and entertainment for True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd., said at news conference Tuesday.
“Eleven-thousand people plan to attend, and tickets are now completely sold out.”
As of Tuesday, the league had yet to announce the start time of the game.
Incidents of public intoxication and fighting at the previous $5-per-ticket Whiteout street party April 12 were reported by police. That night, the game started later (8:30 p.m.), it was cold outside, and the Jets lost 4-3.
With the temperature Thursday expected to hit a high of 13 C, and it being the night before a long weekend, city police said Monday they were aware of several factors that could influence the “demeanour” of the crowd. Police promised any disorderly partygoers would be ejected from the street event.
On Tuesday, Winnipeg police joined Donnelly and Economic Development Winnipeg president and chief executive officer Dayna Spiring to announce they were reducing the Whiteout crowd size for safety reasons.
“Two of our busiest nights of the year are New Year’s Eve and the Thursday before Easter weekend,” said Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Dave Dalal. “Recognizing that we have a responsibility to all citizens of Winnipeg in order to maintain safe operations throughout the city and provide a safe environment for all the fans who wish to come down and celebrate, we’ve established a common number that works for both of us.
“We hope to see everyone down here celebrating in a responsible way and carry on operations throughout the city.”
Added Spiring: “We want to make sure that this is the best possible environment for everyone who’s able to come down and join us.”
“We are very pleased with the way the first two street parties (April 10 and 12) went,” she said. “Despite the cold temperatures — and I can tell you, I was out there and it was freezing — we had 8,500 people on the first night and 11,800 people the second.
“We were really, really pleased with that and thrilled that more than $114,000 was raised for the United Way for the causes of homelessness, mental health and addiction.”
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.