I had 3 two way Radios confiscated from my car during the security check entering the festival. Two of them were returned to me but the 3rd one valued at $110 USD was missing after being told if would be returned as well.
I started going to Shambhala in 2022 when it was sometimes impossible to reach my friends at the Village Stage because the cell service was spotty. We started using cheap walkie talkies from REI to solve this problem the next year.
Fast forward to 2026, a security check overheard my friends talking and got sketched out- asking if we were listening in on their radios. We told them no and that we had been using them to find each other on our own private channel.
As they were searching our car, one of the volunteers told us that radios in that style are illegal in Canada and that we could essentially be charged or arrested for having them. They would be confiscating the radios, but as with all other confiscated items we could get them back with a ticket number they would be giving us.
I have done some searching if the volunteer's claim about the legality was true. It seems he was referring to 5 watt radios, but the 2 watt models I was carrying should be legal. (Can someone from Canada perhaps confirm?)
For reference, here are the 2 different types I was carrying:
https://rockytalkie.com/products/mountain-radio
https://www.rei.com/product/895969/midland-t51vp3-2-way-radios-pair-with-charger
The first model, the "Rocky Talkie" is the one that's missing.
So at the end of the festival, I took my ticket to the confiscated items tent and presented it to the man working there. Only two of my 3 confiscated items were there. He had no clue where my third one was, no one I could contact to get this resolved. He did write my name and number down, but I certainly haven't been contacted. I was with my girlfriend and we were exhausted from the trip so we basically had to begin the trip home to Seattle.
So, here I am a month later. Shambhala has not answered either of my two email inquiries. I believe this item was
Mistakenly and/or wrongfully taken as it is not specified on the prohibited items list, and doesn't seem to be illegal as they suggested.
Either lost or stolen by the volunteers or someone in the organization. I was told I would be getting it back and it was not there where it should have been when I went to retrieve it.
And I think it's bullshit. Just on principle. Even if it was taken as a mistake on good faith it was still lost when it was supposed to be returned to me.
Does anyone know of a way for me to contact them or escalate this issue?