FozzyFest Music and Arts Festival has been a cherished weekend of camping for over a decade. The festival has evolved over that time because of new locations and more people wanting to be involved with this beautiful event.

For the last three years, since the flooding in 2013 which washed out our previous location, the event has been held at Big Springs Campground on Lake Koocanusa in beautiful British Columbia.

However, this year our festival has hit a major roadblock.   

FozzyFest 2016 is in danger and we need your help. We have been dealing with some major issues with our licencing this year, through no fault of our own. We believe it is best to be completely transparent with all of you so that you are kept in the loop with what we have been dealing with these past few months. The following is a complete synopsis of the situation:

• The application for a special event license to the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) to hold our event was made, as usual.
• Several stakeholders need to sign off on the licence, including the RCMP.
• Contrary to the RCMP's past approvals for our special event licence, they have now withheld their consent for a 2016 event.
• The RCMP prepared a risk assessment and have made recommendations to the board of directors of the RDEK for FozzyFest to not be held in 2016.
• In this risk assessment, the RCMP has been unwilling to take into account FozzyFest's safety procedures and clean track record.
• The RDEK's special event licence bylaw, number 277, is written such that the RDEK cannot legally accept the application without signatures from all stakeholders, including the RCMP.
• The FozzyFest Organizing Committee (FFOC) has been tirelessly working since early 2016 to get our licencing approved for our full event. We've had several face-to-face and phone meetings, countless email exchanges, plus compiling multi-paged reports, and have retained legal counsel to respond to the issues we've been dealing with.
• The current bylaw removes the power from the RDEK and places the decision in the hands of the RCMP. With the RCMP unwilling to cooperate, we are at a standstill.
• The FFOC has pushed for the RDEK to amend their special event bylaw to allow them to consider FozzyFest’s solutions to the concerns that have been raised.
• The next meeting with the RDEK will be held on June 10. At this meeting we expect the RDEK to amend their bylaw to allow a vote on our special event licence.
• The petition needs to be signed by May 30, at which time the names will be turned over to the authorities to keep FozzyFest at Big Springs Campground. 
• To be clear, the vote held on June 10 will decide whether FozzyFest 2016 will continue as usual.  

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Let's show the RDEK how much public support and love our festival has. Please help us make FozzyFest 2016 happen by signing this petition before May 30th!
We need as much support as possible, so please spread the FozzLuv and share this petition on your social media feeds and with your friends / family.