Oldenburg's city festival: 300,000 revelers, but also 47 expulsions!

Oldenburg's city festival: 300,000 revelers, but also 47 expulsions!

This year, the Oldenburg city festival attracted over 300,000 visitors to the city center over three evenings. Despite the large crowds, the event was mostly peaceful, as nwzonline.de reports. Organizer Reinke Haar was satisfied with the implementation, especially since the weather made the festival comfortable. Only on Thursday fewer visitors were counted compared to the other days, while Friday is considered the busiest day.

Plans have already been set for 2024: to mark the 50th anniversary, the city festival will be brought forward and begin on the penultimate Thursday in August. There are also special events planned after the regular evenings to make the festival even more varied.

Safety record and challenges

The Oldenburg police drew a positive conclusion and mentioned a variety of security measures that were implemented before and during the event. This included an operational concept with a high level of presence and the use of video technology, which proved to be effective, as regionalheute.de notes. However, 47 evictions were issued and seven people were taken into custody, often for alcohol-related incidents.

The police recorded a total of 29 physical injuries on Friday and Saturday evening. There was also a particularly worrying incident in which a 20-year-old suspect was identified after pepper spray was used during an argument on Lange Strasse. In addition, two women were victims of sexual assault on Saturday evening while the perpetrators were able to escape.

In addition, youth protection patrols were in place to ensure that young people did not come into contact with vapes and other dangers. During traffic checks, some drunk drivers were noticed, which shows that road safety was a big issue even after the festival.

A look at the polls

A survey of 1,800 visitors found that 51% of participants felt unsafe, while only 26% felt safe. Given the challenges that come with such large crowds, it is clear that security concepts for large events need to be continually reviewed and improved. The state offers support for this, as described by im.nrw. Cities and municipalities have the task of intensively examining security aspects and developing a well-thought-out security concept that also takes into account feedback from previous events.

In summary, it can be said that the Oldenburg city festival was once again a crowd puller. Despite a few incidents, the positive experiences prevailed and preparations for the coming year are already in full swing. Both organizers and security forces can work on this to guarantee even more fun and safety.