Wear your favourite melon, but no booze at the Banjo Bowl

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This article was published 12/09/2009 (6230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’ll be a lot more blue than gold at Canada Inns Stadium on Sunday, as the Winnipeg Police Service plans to beef up its presence for the annual Banjo Bowl.

Additional officers will be present at and around the contest between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders to enforce liquor regulations and discourage hooliganism, Const. Jason Michalyshen said Friday.

A small minority of severely intoxicated fans have bothered other patrons at previous games, he said, adding police merely want fans to know it’s illegal to consume booze at tailgate parties and act disruptively within the stadium.

"It’s a friendly rivalry with Saskatchewan and we’re expecting a lot of people at the game," said Michalyshen, referring to the sold-out Banjo Bowl, which begins at 3 p.m. Sunday. "With the additional excitement, some individuals tend to make poor choices."

Tailgate parties themselves, however, are not illegal, Michalyshen noted.

Neither is the tendency by certain Saskatchewan fans to wear watermelons on their heads, he added.

"Some people might consider that a form of safety equipment," he joked. "As a local fan, I certainly wouldn’t wear one. But if somebody wants to wear that apparatus, all the power to them."

In previous years, a Bomber fan who goes by the name of Plungerhead has complained his choice of headgear has made him the subject of harassment at Winnipeg-Saskatchewan tilts in Regina.

 

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca