FKP Scorpio, organizers for Sweden’s Bråvalla Festival have officially announced the end of the country’s largest and most popular music festival. Following last year’s event, organizers said the festival would be canceled for 2018 after an excess of sexual assaults.
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In 2017, Police in Östergötland, where the festival is held, said four rapes and 23 sexual assaults were reported over the weekend. In 2016, there were five rapes and 12 cases of sexual assault reported over the four days.
Days after the 2017 edition, organizers told The Guardian “Certain men … apparently cannot behave. It’s a shame. We have therefore decided to cancel Bråvalla 2018.”
The head of PR for FKP Scorpio, Kajsa Apelqvist, told Swedish outlet Norrköpings Tidningar last week that they no longer felt they could provide the experience their visitors deserved and there will no longer be a Bråvalla Festival.
Bråvalla was one of several music festivals in Sweden that faced several reports of sexual assault, which prompted a group including comedian and radio presenter, Emma Knyckare, to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a music festival without men.
The Statement Festival reached its fundraising goal and is slated to take place this year from Aug. 31-Sept. 1 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Apelqvist told Norrköpings Tidningar that sexual assault is still an issue for festivals that the company will continue to combat with its other events, but not the sole reason for canceling Bråvalla.
FKP Scorpio’s decision also follows Live Nation Sweden announcing an expansion of the Lollapalooza brand next year. Lollapalooza Stockholm’s inaugural festival will run from June 28-29, 2019.
Apelqvist explained that Bråvalla would not be relocated and that the company plans to develop other events. FKP Scorpio will continue to put on their new music festival Where’s the Music in central Norrköping, Sweden.
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Read more: From 2018/06/24
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