Nanaimo RCMP are investigating the theft of valuable sound gear rented by the Nanaimo Fringe Festival. The equipment is valued at about $7,000. (Nanaimo Fringe Festival)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

LOCKER BREAK-IN

Rented lights & audio equipment stolen from Nanaimo Fringe Festival

Aug 12, 2022 | 12:39 PM

NANAIMO — Some of the outdoor performances at this year’s Nanaimo Fringe Festival might be more acoustic than first planned, but the show will go on.

Organizers say their storage container in the Old City Quarter was broken into overnight Thursday, Aug. 11 into the following morning with just under $7000.00 worth of rented speakers, audio mixers and lighting equipment all taken.

The Festival’s Bryony Dixon told NanaimoNewsNOW the container was locked up Thursday night around 6 p.m. with the theft discovered Friday at 10 a.m.

“Our outdoor technician got there this morning, there’s metal shavings on the floor and the locks we use to secure the storage container units we had in our outdoor venue area had been removed and all of our lights and sound equipment were stolen.”

Some tables and chairs which were also inside the unit were not touched.

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The theft is forcing organizers to scramble ahead of the first their outdoor stage shows on Friday afternoon.

Dixon said the ongoing festival will proceed, with performers putting on a more bare-bones event using natural lighting and acoustic instruments.

“We think we can make this work, it’s quite a small venue and Fringe artists are wonderfully flexible so I think they’ll still appreciate being able to go ahead.”

Other planned events, including Friday night’s silent disco are still scheduled. Equipment being used for the disco, including headphones, were not stored at the storage locker.

Dixon and other organizers are also putting out the call to other event organizers or equipment rental businesses for some support to temporarily replace the equipment taken.

You can click here to go to their donation page.

The Nanaimo Fringe Festival runs from Aug. 11 to Aug 21 at Fitzwilliam Gate in the Old City Quarter.

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