An Alberta woman who died of a suspected drug overdose at B.C.'s Boonstock Music Festival was on a trip to celebrate her birthday.
Identified as Lynn Tolocka by CTV News, the Leduc woman's Facebook page has been flooded with messages since Saturday when she died.
Many friends wrote birthday wishes to her on Sunday, which reportedly would have been her 25th.
Tolocka became "distressed" on one of the Penticton festival's stages, according to a Facebook post by organizers, and died at the Penticton Regional Hospital. The investigation is ongoing, but RCMP believe her death was caused by a drug overdose.
The number of festival goers who were sent to hospital has reached 80, CTV reports.
"The majority of presentations to the hospital have been drug and alcohol related," Interior Health spokesperson Grace Kucey told CBC News.
Boonstock was denied a liquor licence just before the festival was set to start due to unaddressed safety issues. Some say this may have actually helped cause the spike in excessive drug use.
“The majority of hospital admittances were overdoses, which is high, and that might reflect the fact there was no alcohol,” David Hyde, a security consultant, told CTV.
This is the first year that Boonstock has taken place in B.C. It was previously held in Gibbons, Alta. for nine years, but county officials voted to kick the event out after residents complained about vandalism, trespassing, noise, and overall safety.
According to a post on Tolocka's Facebook wall, a memorial service was held Monday in Leduc.
With previous files
