Calgarians could be smoking cannabis while enjoying the city’s summer festival season.

On Wednesday, a city council committee approved amendments to a bylaw that would allow cannabis consumption at approved events and festivals in Calgary.

Executive Director of Calgary Folk Music Fest, Sara Leishman, welcomed the changes and is happy to offer separate consumption areas on festival grounds.

“We’ve amassed a wide variety of stakeholders for our event, and it’s really important to us for them to be able to choose as to whether or not, and how, they can engage with the consumption of cannabis on site. Much like you can choose whether or not to walk into the beer garden.”

The city’s lead on legalization said he’s heard from many organizers that people are already consuming cannabis during events, and this helps them create designated spaces for users.

“It’s a lot less than people seem to think, but we do know that we should have an area for them to do that that’s discrete, and also provides folks who don’t want to engage with cannabis an ability to avoid that area,” said Leishman