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Ottawa Citizen

Bluesfest's lost and found turns up some really weird stuff

Wallets, phones and jewelry are some of things you'd expect to find in an average Lost and Found bin. Article content But Bluesfest volunteers have shared a lot of good laughs over some of the other bizarre things patrons have brought in with them. Article content For the most part, Kathryn Carruthers, who's been volunteering with Bluesfest for more than 15 years, said this year's festival brought up one really odd item: a small zippered bag filled with vomit. Article content She called that find 'rather disgusting.' Article content Article content Over the years, Carruthers says, the Lost and Found bin has contained rather intimate items as well. 'We get things that shouldn't be off people's bodies,' she said, such as underwear and other clothing. Article content Hannah Greave, another volunteer at Bluesfest's administrative department for about four years, said they also received a single cowboy boot turned in this year. Article content 'That's a new one,' she said. 'That's been the funniest thing so far this year.' Article content Long after a concert's over and people begin heading home, Greave says they collect plenty of lawn chairs, especially last year. Article content 'How do you forget and lose a whole lawn chair?' she said. Article content Greave recalled one year when a gas mask turned up. Article content 'It looked like the old-school gas masks that people wore,' she said, wondering why anyone would bring a gas mask to a Bluesfest concert in July. Article content Article content 'What's the thought process of wearing that to the festival?' she said. 'A cosmetic purpose?' Article content At the end of the day, Greave said, they're always happy to give people their belongings back. Article content 'People are very, very relieved when we have the things that they need,' she said. 'We like people getting their things back.' Article content When the venue begins to get cleaned up towards the end of the festival, Carruthers said, they end up finding and collecting even more wallets, identification cards and phones left behind. Article content 'A lot of the time, things will be tucked under a tent,' she said. 'When the site's being cleaned up and torn down, we get a lot of stuff turned in.'