Wildfire leads to evacuation of Princeton music festival

PRINCETON — Organizers touted it as the hottest festival of the summer, but attendees of the Under the Stars music festival near Princeton this weekend literally felt the heat as the event was evacuated due to a wildfire.

Princeton R-C-M-P say up to a thousand festivalgoers were safely evacuated from the event in the small village of Coalmont, about 20 kilometres west of Princeton, on Sunday evening.

Mounties say a group of four people were riding all-terrain vehicles near the village on Sunday when one of the A-T-Vs caught fire, with flames rapidly spreading toward the community.

Princeton R-C-M-P say emergency crews, including BC Wildfire Service personnel, were on the scene and used ground and aerial resources to battle the blaze.