A Canadian sunflower farm has permanently closed its gates to all visitors after literal swarms of Instagrammers caused chaos on and around the property. According to reports, images from the farm had begun to trend on social media, resulting in a massive increase in traffic.
[jwplayer sKZZk6x3]
The Ontario farm allowed folks to come down and pay a $7.50 entry fee to view the huge crop of yellow flowers and even hired extra staff during busy periods to help with the small crowds. When the location started to get noticed, the increase in visitors was manageable at first, but by July 28, absolute chaos rained down on the farm. According to a report from The Globe and Mail, an estimated 7,000 cars packed the roads leading to the farm.
To get an idea of the mayhem this caused, have a read of this excerpt from The Globe.
By noon, the hordes were coming from all directions. People were parking as much as a kilometre away. The crowds started ignoring the overwhelmed farm staff, strolling into the fields without paying. Police told the Bogles that parents were crossing four lanes of traffic with strollers, people were getting in fender benders – one driver had his door ripped off by a passing car. One officer told the family they would be fined.
The Bogles tried their best to ward off the trespassers. “We asked one guy to leave, and he said, ‘Make me’ and wanted to fight,” Brad says.
Truly insane stuff. All I can picture is swarms upon swarms of insufferable assholes emerging on the crest of a hill in the distance. As they rumble closer, you can hear them yelling “NO FILTER” and “HASHTAG CLEAN EATING”. Scary, no?
The Bogle Seeds farm shut up shop to visitors after that and even had to tell people to leave for days after the swarms of visitors descended on the property. Some folks even told the Bogles they’d ruined their vacation, which, to me, is a bit of a stretch. If your vacation revolves around a field of sunflowers, you probably need to re-evaluate your life.
The influx of guests also damaged areas of the crop, which is extremely delicate. Damaged sunflowers are not as resilient when facing things like a draught.
What do the Insta pics look like, you ask? Fucken, exactly how you reckon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl__DTYlEmp/?tagged=bogleseeds
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl9ETI1HyrB/?tagged=bogleseeds
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl6piB0h4Dr/?tagged=bogleseeds
Yeah, I’d shut that shit down pretty quick, too.
