Vancouver stop of world's largest bouncy castle cancelled over 'serious' safety non-compliances
If you were looking forward to jumping around in the world’s biggest bouncy castle in Vancouver this weekend, you’ll have to find another place to get your bounce on.
The organizers of the Big Bounce Canada have confirmed that they have cancelled the remainder of their Vancouver dates due to issues with Technical Safety BC (TSBC), an organization that oversees the safe installation and operation of equipment and systems across the province.
The event was supposed to happen at Concord Pacific Place for two weekends from Aug. 22 to 31.
In a social media post, the Big Bounce Canada noted that the Vancouver event was the last of seven Canadian cities it visited over the summer.
The Big Bounce Canada/Facebook
“In each of these cities, weāve worked hand in hand with local and regional safety authorities to deliver safe, successful, and hugely popular events to tens of thousands of Canadian families,” said the organization.
“Unfortunately, Technical Safety BC adopted a different position from all the other regional authorities, requesting last-minute changes to the exact same operating program and schedule of attractions that had run without issue across seven other Canadian cities.”
The Big Bounce Canada added that TSBC’s demands were “unnecessary and unrealistic,” making the event “unviable.”
“…We subsequently took the difficult decision to cancel,” said event organizers.
Vancouver bouncy castles had “serious” safety issues
The Big Bounce Canada/Facebook
TSBC provided Daily Hive with more details about the issues it found with the Big Bounce Canada Vancouver event.
In a statement, TSBC said that its team inspected five inflatables at the Vancouver event space on Aug. 21 and 22.
The organization explained that all five of those units had “serious non-compliances that needed to be addressed before public operation was considered.”
Examples of hazards included “large holes, use of unapproved blowers, and inadequate anchoring,” said TSBC.
“These safety hazards can result in insufficient inflation or airborne inflatables, increasing the risk of patrons hitting the ground instead of bouncing, colliding with other users, and sustaining minor to moderate injuries.”
After the Aug. 22 inspection, TSBC said Big Bounce Canada agreed to complete the repairs and resolve safety issues before the castles began operating for the Vancouver event.
However, one day later, the safety authority claims it became aware that the Big Bounce Canada event was open to the public, with all five inflatables operating “despite not meeting any of the identified safety or operating requirements, putting attendees at risk.”
TSBC officials returned to the event site on Aug. 23 to investigate further.
“The operator was uncooperative and unwilling to promptly address the outstanding requirements. As a result, Technical Safety BC issued a compliance order requiring that the Big Bounce Canada cease operation of all units,” said TSBC.
“The delivery of the compliance order was supported by the Vancouver Police Department due to the lack of cooperation from the operator and the seriousness of the safety concerns.”
TSBC said that it is not aware of the condition of the bouncy castles at the other stops across the country, and following the Aug. 23 closure, it was “fully prepared” to work with the Big Bounce Canada to expedite reopening once repairs were completed.
All affected ticket holders will be refunded via their original method of payment.