Pemberton Music Festival visitors left B.C. campground covered in garbage

The PembertonMusic Festival is a massive party in B.C.'s Coast Mountains a party that also apparently leaves one massive, stinkingmess.

As the four-day music festival came to a close Sunday, the campgrounds in the Pemberton Valley needed a serious clean-up. A friend of festivalgoer Keith Harasymiw captured the resulting mess on camera, and Harasymiw decided to post the photo to Facebook.

"Great job on picking up after yourselves at Pembyfest," hewrote in the caption. "Glad to see how much you all love your gorgeous BC."

The photo features a mountain pasture littered with abandonedtents, camping chairs, coolers,a still-inflated mattress, and a generous spreadofemptyplastic water bottles.

"This is how fires start. Just people having fun with no regards to nature and its surroundings," Harasymiw commentedon his photo, whichhasbeen shared more than 18,000 times. The comment section is filled with similar criticisms.

"I picked up a few new items on the way out, but overall super grossed out, and appalled at people to leave such a mess," Zoe Heather wrote onFacebook.

'The bags are overflowing every night'

More than115,000people attended thePembertonMusic Festival from July 16 to 19. Itshowcased musical acts like The Black Keys,Ludacris, and Missy Elliot. Festivalgoers can camp about a 15minute walk fromthe festival site.

Approximately200 volunteers and 50 sanitation workers teamed up to clean up the sprawling mess,according to Metro Canada.

"It is insane, absolutely insane. The bags are overflowing every night. It's kind of hard to keep on top of things," Daragh Herron, a sanitation worker, told Metro Canada.

By Tuesdayafternoon, theeffortappears to be paying off, asa festivalrepresentativesent CBC News thisphotoof theday's clean-up along with a statement:

"What makes Pemberton Music Festival such a special event is our majestic site in the Pemberton Valley. It is certainly not in our best interest to avoid removing trash and debris continually and expediently before, during and after the festival," said thestatement.

"Major active cleaning efforts will continue zone-by-zone until we have completed our load-out from the site."

The statement also says that festivalgoers had until Monday at 2 p.m. to clean up their campground and leave, but "many of them chose to leave behind personal belongings rather than pack them out."

The village ofPembertonhas a nearby recycling station and bottle depot. The festival wrote in afrequently asked questionssectionthat recycling bins were placed across the festival site, withroving trash pick up and a dumping site.

"I understand they hire people to clean up after festivals, but this is still ridiculous and it's what cancels events like this in the future,"Harasymiwlater wrote. He also posted another photo to Facebook.

Regardless of the waste, many visitorsenjoyed the festivalas evidenced by posts under thehashtag#pembyfest.

The PembertonMusic Festival has already begun selling tickets for next year.