CHILLICOTHE, IL (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) – Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois, has put the kibosh on the popular Summer Camp jamband festival that draws over 8,000 fans each summer to the otherwise tiny, quiet town, after reports of illegal drug use at this year’s fest became too much to bear.
The decision to kick the festival out of the park came after park manager Chris Cassidy received a petition from a doctor at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, signed by more than 80 other physicians, nurses and staff members, requesting the festival come to a half.
Dr. Richard Frederick, and emergency room physician at OSF who worked the weekend of the concert this past May, said his action was prompted by the “numerous drug overdoses” coming into the hospital from the event.
“Somebody is going to die one of these days,” Frederick told the Journal-Register. He estimated 20 to 30 people were hospitalized for overdoses from various drugs, including LSD, GHB (known as a date-rape drug), cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol.
“Whether you realize it or not, this has turned into one of the Midwest’s most popular venues for the abuse of illegal drugs,” Frederick wrote in the petition.
Police arrested 30 people allegedly involved in the illegal sale of drugs during the festival. They also seized 2,373 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 91 hits of LSD, 394 grams of marijuana, and smaller amounts of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.
Summer Camp promoter Jay Goldberg told the paper that the festival will find a new venue, claiming that the Park board made a hasty decision.
“Anytime you have big events – look at the NASCAR races or a tailgate party at a Jimmy Buffet concert – there’s some potential for something to happen,” he told the paper. “With big crowds, it all goes hand in hand.”
Goldberg has reportedly already received multiple proposals from other communities, mostly from outside Illinois. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
