Mumford and Sons boycott Swedish music festival after mass sexual assault
Seventeen sexual assaults including five alleged rapes were reported at Bravalla last weekend
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mumford and Sons have announced that they will be boycotting Sweden’s biggest music festival after a mass sexual assault against female crowd members last weekend.
Five alleged rapes and twelve sexual assaults were reported to police at the Bravalla festival in Norkopping, where the folk rock band was playing alongside the likes of Bastille, The 1975, Wiz Khalifa and Biffy Clyro.
“We’re appalled to hear what happened at the Bravalla Festival last weekend. Festivals are a celebration of music and people, a place to let go and feel safe doing so,” the group wrote on their Facebook page. “We’re gutted by these hideous reports. We won’t play at this festival again until we’ve had assurances from the police and organisers that they’re doing something to combat what appears to be a disgustingly high rate of reported sexual violence.”
Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson, who also performed at Bravalla, tweeted her outrage at the attacks. “You deserve to burn in hell,” she wrote in a series of posts targeted at the perpetrators. “Damn you for making girls feel insecure when they go to a festival. Hate hate hate.”
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has described the attacks as “totally unacceptable” and vowed to tighten laws on sexual assault after a further 32 cases of sexual assault against women were reported at the country’s Putte I Parken festival between 30 June and 2 July.
Seven men have so far been identified for questioning but so far no arrests have been made.
Elsewhere, three sexual assaults were reported at the UK’s Glastonbury festival in June while five cases were reported at Denmark’s Roskilde festival last week.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments