By Times Chronicle Staff
The BC Highway Patrol teamed up with Nelson Police, issuing over 800 tickets and other enforcement action to festival goers attending the six-day Shambhalla Music Festival in the Kootenay town of Salmo.
The festival which features nearly 200 electronic music artists performing on six stages held on a 200 ha farm attracts upwards of 20,000 attendees making it a key focus for road safety.
As festivalgoers arrived from July 21 to July 25, 2025, BC Highway Patrol focused on speed and vehicle infractions in all the mountain passes into Salmo including the Kootenay Pass, Bombi Pass, and Paulson Pass. The influx of people resulted in over 700 tickets including:
- 360 speeding tickets;
- nine excessive speeding tickets;
- 11 tickets for no insurance;
- 11 Notice and Orders for unsafe or mechanically unsound vehicles.
The Shambhala Music Festival is an annual event held on a farm near Salmo, BC.
Contributed photo
And then as people left the festival, BC Highway Patrol teamed up with Nelson Police to look out for impaired driving and unsafe vehicles in particular. Those efforts led to the following:
- Approximately 60 vehicles towed for mechanical safety or driver impairment;
- 59 twenty-four-hour suspensions for impairment by drugs;
- 24 Criminal Code investigations for impairment by drugs.
“The temperatures were high and a little uncomfortable for officers working long days in full uniform,” says Cpl. Michael McLaughlin. “But it’s clear this enforcement was necessary. Police officers were particularly concerned about getting impaired drivers and unsafe vehicles off the road, and they were right to be concerned.”
