The Places Where Selfie Sticks Are Banned From Disneyland to the Kentucky Derby, more and more venues are requiring that guests leave their selfie-taking devices at home.
By Laura Entis
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Selfie-sticks are undeniably great at taking selfies. They at once eliminate the awkward arm reach, while enabling more people to get in the frame. (Food for thought: If Ellen had used one when she hosted Oscars, how many additional A-listers could she have crammed into what, despite its old-school technique, has perhaps become the most famous selfie of all time?)
But as the devices have proliferated, so has the selfie-stick fatigue, to the point where venues across the country are banning the device for a variety of reasons. Here's a list of places where your selfie-stick is unwelcome:
Museums. Citing concerns for the safety of its art, a long list of museums – including The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Frick, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and Washington's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – have asked visitors to just please not with the selfie stick.
Related: There's Now a Course on the Art of Selfies
The Kentucky Derby. In the interest of both its fans and competing horses, the Kentucky Derby will ask guests who arrive with selfie sticks to get rid of them or leave them in the car, according to The Courier Journal of Louisville. FYI: Selfie-by-drone isn't an option, either: Unmanned aerial devices are also banned from the venue.
Concerts. Chicago's Lollapalooza, an annual summer music festival, has banned the devices. Coachella did too, in perhaps the most Coachella way possible: "No Selfie Sticks/Narsisstics," the festival's website reads.
Disneyland rides. Park employees have been instructed to ask guests to put the selfie sticks away before getting on a ride. (Apparently, those who don't comply will be shamed into submission via an announcement over the PA system.)
Historic landmarks. The Palace of Versailles and Rome's Colosseum are just two monuments where tourists will have to snap photos the old-fashioned way.
Soccer stadiums. In this case, the ban exists for or a darker reason, namely the selfie stick's potential use as a weapon.
Related: Want a 3-D Printed Selfie? There's an App for That.
