Summer is approaching, which means it’s almost music-festival season for the US. And like every year, most revelers will be looking for ways to get that epic video or crazy selfie that will make all their friends jealous. They’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way this year though as 2 of the biggest festivals have announced a ban on selfie sticks.
What, you don’t know what selfie sticks are?
Selfie sticks are elongated sticks that attach to a camera or phone to aid photo-taking. Yup, you may have seen one or more jutting high above in crowds, with some threatening to drop smartphones on/knock people’s heads. The sticks were among the best-selling gifts of Christmas 2014 but have been outlawed from a number of venues on health and safety grounds.
For starters, Coachella, California’s massive annual fest on 10th April this year, said on its website that “Selfie sticks/Narsisstics” would not be allowed, indicating that the organisers simply find the extendable smartphone attachments annoying in addition to being potentially dangerous.
Chicago’s Lollapalooza followed suit, listing “GoPro attachments like sticks, selfie sticks and monopods” under prohibited items in its FAQ section:
Source: http://www.lollapalooza.com/faqs/
While other major festivals across the US have not yet indicated whether they would allow selfie sticks, several venues in the UK have issued similar bans in the past.
Oops. Won’t be long now before they deem it a weapon and ban it here too, we reckon!
Source: TIME.