Those who were looking forward to jumping around in the world’s largest bouncy castle are now left feeling deflated.
The Big Bounce Canada took to social media this morning saying it was cancelling the remainder of its Vancouver dates on its back-to-back tour of seven Canadian cities.
The organization says Technical Safety BC is adopting a different position from the other regional authorities, requesting last-minute changes the company says are “unnecessary and unrealistic”.
The event has been running since Friday and was scheduled to continue through the end of the month.
In a statement to CityNews, TSBC said it conducted inspections of five inflatables at The Big Bounce Canada on Aug. 21 and 22.
“All five units had serious non-compliances that needed to be addressed before public operation was considered,” Kristen Olvet, a spokesperson for TSBC, said. “Examples of the safety hazards that required attention included large holes, use of unapproved blowers, and inadequate anchoring. These safety hazards can result in insufficient inflation or airborne inflatables, increasing the risk of patrons hitting the ground instead of bouncing, colliding with other users, and sustaining minor to moderate injuries.”
The following day, Olvet said the safety organization learned The Big Bounce Canada was operating publicly with all five inflatables despite not meeting any of the identified safety requirements.
TSBC began an investigation during which it says the operator was uncooperative.
“As a result, Technical Safety BC issued a compliance order requiring that The Big Bounce Canada cease operation of all units,” Olvet said. “The delivery of the compliance order was supported by the Vancouver Police Department due to the lack of cooperation from the operator and the seriousness of the safety concerns.”
All affected ticket holders will be refunded to their original method of payment. The Big Bounce Canada says refunds may take up to 10 business days to process.