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Five rape reports filed during Roskilde Festival

The number of rapes reported at this year’s Roskilde Festival was at its highest point in several years, Mid and West Zealand Police said in a press release.

Published: 4 July 2016 13:18 CEST
Five rape reports filed during Roskilde Festival
Police are still investigating the rape reports and the unrelated death of a 20-year-old woman. Photo: Emil Hougaard/Scanpix
Police received five reports of rape through Sunday, marring what was otherwise a quiet festival on the crime front.
 
While the five reports are significantly higher than the one reported rape last year, police said that the figures could not necessarily be directly compared due to new recording procedures. In the past, cases were only registered as rape if and when a perpetrator was arrested, whereas this year they are recorded as rapes during the initial report. 
 
Police said that the five reported incidents were under ongoing investigations and declined to give any additional details. 
 
The number of thefts from the festival’s camping grounds was “significantly lower” than years past, while reports of pickpocketing were up slightly, police said. 
 
As a whole, police said that the 2016 edition of Roskilde Festival had been a quiet affair. 
 
“We are very satisfied with how the festival has gone,” spokesman Carsten Andersen told news agency Ritzau on Saturday night. “When you think about the fact that you have shoved 130,000 people together in a relatively small space, we think it is impressive that we haven’t had more to do.”
 
 
On Monday, Mid and West Zealand Police said that there was still no new information on what caused a 20-year-old woman to die in her tent early on Saturday. 
 
Mid and West Zealand Police have been releasing annual crime statistics from Roskilde Festival since 2011. 

FESTIVAL

Denmark’s summer music festival hopes fade

The possibility of large-scale music festivals taking place in Denmark this summer has been described as “unrealistic” following the publication of expert recommendations for coronavirus-safe events.

Published: 23 April 2021 16:31 CEST
Denmark’s summer music festival hopes fade
The Roskilde Festival during the glorious summer of 2018. Photo: Sofie Mathiassen/Ritzau Scanpix

Music events such as the Roskilde Festival, the largest of its kind in northern Europe, would not be able to take place as normal and must be without overnight guests under the recommendations, submitted in report form by an expert advisory group to the government on Friday.

The group, appointed as part of the national reopening plan, was tasked with looking at how festivals and other large events can take place this summer.

The recommendations will provide the basis political discussions which will form an agreement over large events which will be integrated into the reopening plan.

READ ALSO: Denmark enters new phase of reopening plan: Here’s what changed on April 21st

Seven various scenarios, including one for outdoors, standing events, were considered by the expert group in forming its recommendations. Two phases have been set down for eased restrictions on large events, which are currently banned due to the public assembly limit.

In the final phase of the restrictions towards the end of the summer, a maximum of 10,000 people would be permitted to attend an event. All attendees would be required to present a valid corona passport, and audiences would be split into sections of 2,000.

Although that could provide a framework for some events to take place, Roskilde Festival, which normally has a total of around 130,000 guests and volunteers including sprawling camping areas, appears to be impossible in anything resembling its usual format.

The festival was also cancelled in 2020.

Roskilde Festival CEO Signe Lopdrup, who was part of the expert group, said the festival was unlikely to go ahead should it be required to follow the recommendations.

“Based on the recommendations, we find it very difficult to believe it is realistic to organise festivals in Denmark before the end of the summer,” Lopdrup said in a written comment to broadcaster DR.

The restrictions would mean “that it is not possible to go ahead with the Roskilde Festival. That’s completely unbearable. But that’s where we’ve ended,” she added.

The news is potentially less bleak for other types of event with fewer participants, with cultural and sporting events as well as conferences also included in the recommendations submitted by the group.

Parliament has previously approved a compensation scheme for major events forced to cancel due to coronavirus measures this summer.

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