Stanley Park drummers told to beat it

A group of drummers who have been banging away every Tuesday until the sun sets on beaches in Vancouver's Stanley Park have been told they have until the end of summer before they will have to beat it.

The group, called Brahm's Tams, have attracting spectators to Second Beach with their rhythms for the past three years. But this year, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation said residents who live nearby had been complaining about the noise.

"From residents who go down there, as well as our park rangers, we've been getting complaints," board commissioner Aaron Jasper said Tuesday night, "For some of the residents it is, in their minds, one of the quieter spots to go down in the afternoon, and so to have the drumming is a bit of a disturbance to them."

The board told them to move their drumming circle to Third Beach instead.

However, at the first session at the new location last week, Vancouver police officers shut them down, threatening them with tickets, according to Brahm Olszynko, who started the drumming sessions.

"Some people were upset, and they called the police," Olszynko said when the group returned to Second Beach on Tuesday night, "And a sergeant and five officers came. And they just, they gave me an ultimatum, eh, that I either had to stop or they were going to stop it, and that stopping it would not have been as amicable."

Despite the police action, the board has offered to let the performances continue until the end of the summer.Officials will also discuss alternative spots in the park, including Prospect Point, where it is possible to see the sunset, Jasper said.