You have 0 items in your cart
Sweden will hold it’s first ever female-only festival after reports of sexual assaults taking place at other festivals.
The Guardian reports that Bråvalla, Sweden’s largest festival, was cancelled after four rapes and 23 sexual assaults were reported over the weekend.
Bråvalla took place between June 28 and July 1, and featured The Killers and The Chainsmokers.
Festival organisers said: “Certain men … apparently cannot behave. It’s a shame. We have therefore decided to cancel Bråvalla 2018,”
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven condemned the attacks and called for more surveillance at festivals.
In response to the cancellation and the assaults, Swedish radio presenter Emma Knyckare took to Twitter to suggest a festival that didn’t include any men.
“What do you think about putting together a really cool festival where only non-men are welcome, that we’ll run until ALL men have learned how to behave themselves?”
Her Tweet created so much impact that Sweden’s first female-only festival will happen in 2018, replacing Bråvalla.
She took to Instagram to announce the news:
“Sweden’s first man-free rock festival will see the light next summer.
“In the coming days I’ll bring together a solid group of talented organisers and project leaders to form the festival organisers, then you’ll hear from everyone again when it’s time to move forward.”
European festivals have been rife with allegations of sexual harassment in the last few years, with Stockholm’s We Are STHLM being an example of one.
Mumford and Sons, who performed at Bråvalla in 2016, released a statement proclaiming they were ‘gutted by the hideous reports’ and promising to not play at the festival again “until we’ve had assurances from the police and organizers that they’re doing something to combat what appears to be a disgustingly high rate of reported sexual violence.”
Last year, Sweden’s Putte I Parken fest saw over 30 reports of attacks against female attendees.
