July is one of the busiest festival seasons in Finland, and this summer weekend several different large-scale events were organised in various cities around the country. Attendees were mostly civil according to reports, but serious crimes were also booked.
At the three-day Ruisrock music festival in Turku two suspected rapes were reported to the police, who say that the two crimes suspected to have taken place in the festival area were separate and unrelated. Both of the sexual assaults took place in a portable bathroom stall. One of the victims was 17 years old, while the other was of age, the South-West Finland police say.
On Saturday police took four Ruisrock festival participants into custody and removed 12 people from the area. Nine drug offenses were logged.
Additionally police arrested one person on suspicion of attempted manslaughter in Turku Saturday night. The person in question had stabbed a random passerby with a knife. The victim's injuries are severe, police say.
Summer Up area calm, outside not
The Häme police say that Lahti's annual Summer Up festival went off fairly smoothly within the festival premises. Bookings included a suspicion of boating under the influence, one drug use offense and an assault.
But at the Mukkula shopping centre located nearby, things were not as smooth, as fights broke out into the wee hours. Police took custody of several inebriated individuals and those who participated in the brawling. Police were monitoring the area closely based on previous years' experience.
Tango and housing fairs
Both a home improvement fair and the yearly Tangomarkkinat, the world's oldest tango festival, were organised in Seinäjoki over the weekend. Despite the large amount of people and traffic, police say that things were trouble-free at the events, citing that the median age of the visitors is higher than that of other festivals' fans.
The Ostrobothnia police department says that the rainy local weather likely dampened any trouble-making spirits, and no more incidents were filed than on a regular summer weekend there.
Finland is famous for its summer music festivals, with 28 scheduled throughout the country in the month of July, offering everything from classical music and jazz to pop, folk and hip-hop.