Stage evacuated at ​Germany’s WHOLE Festival following “threat to public safety”

A stage at Germany’s WHOLE Festival was evacuated over the weekend following a “threat to public safety”, the festival confirmed to Mixmag.

The festival took place over the weekend from August 2 – 5 at Ferropolis, a lakeside island site in Gräfenhainichen, eastern Germany. This year’s line-up included Jennifer Cardini, Bored Lord, Peach, Octo Octa and more.

An initial post from the festival on Instagram explained that the team had received a message “through an Awareness Team member that contained a reference to a criminally offensive threat to our public safety” on the evening of Saturday, August 3.

They added that they first flagged the protocol as a technical issue to keep the evacuation “calm and collected”, confirming that the Forest Area was then evacuated. A follow-up statement from local police to Mixmag said that the threat was thought to be targeted around the Beach Stage just next to the forest.

According to police, a tip-off was received at around 9:PM on Saturday about a possible “disturbance to public peace through threats of criminal offences” in the Beach Stage area.

“The police then cordoned off the area in question,” said a spokesman for the Polizeiinspektion Dessau-Roßlau in a statement to Mixmag. “Visitors were also informed that the area in question had to be [evacuated] for security reasons.”

WHOLE said in their statement on social media: “When something like this comes in, the protocol is to evacuate the area for our collective safety until we’re able, in cooperation with our security staff and local authorities, to verify the threat as fake.”

They thanked festivalgoers, of which 3,500 were said to be affected (according to police), for their “grace during and after this protocol”.

“Except for the disturbance to the programming, we gladly report that in the end, no harm or breach of safety transpired,” WHOLE added. “Your support and positive spirit made it possible for us to overcome this challenge and keep the party going.”

Police also confirmed that the evacuation went “smoothly and without incident”. They told Mixmag: “During the police operation, a 31-year-old suspicious person who was known to be on the event site and lives in Berlin was identified.”

The suspect was questioned and ruled out as a threat, according to police. An investigation was initiated following the disturbance.

Read the full statements from WHOLE below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter