We Are Sthlm

A performance during the 2011 event

We Are Sthlm is an annual youth music festival in the Swedish capital Stockholm.

It was first established as a summer music festival for youth in 2000 under the name "Ung08" with free yearly public concerts and events in central Stockholm.^[1] The venture was successful and received support from Stockholm Municipality in 2003. In 2013, the festival was attended by 160,000 people and changed its name to "We Are Sthlm".^[2][3][4]

In 2015, there were reports that multiple sexual harassment incidents had been reported at the festival over the course of several years.^[5]

Artists appearing

Artist who have appeared at Ung08 / We Are Sthlm have included:

Adam Tensta Agnes Carlsson Albin Gromer Alex Moreno Alina Devecerski Anastacia (US) Andreas Tilliander Blues Brick & Lace Craig David (UK) Da Buzz Danny Saucedo Darin Darren Hayes (AUS) Elias and the Wizzkids

Entombed Familjen Five (UK) Fjärde Världen Flo Rida (US) Geri Halliwell (UK) Gnucci Banana Good Charlotte (US) Hoffmaestro & Chraa Icona Pop Ison & Fille Jasmine Kara Jessica Folcker Kat DeLuna (US) Kim Cesarion

Kings of Convenience (NO) Labyrint The Latin Kings Lazee Lloyd Banks (US) Ola Nordvik Myrstad (NO) Mack Beats Maskinen Mims (US) Mohombi Moto Boy Naïve New Beaters Natasha Bedingfield (UK) Newkid Näääk & Nimo Petter

Panetoz Promoe Robyn Savant (NO) Sean Banan Slag Från Hjärtat Slagsmålsklubben Snook Sophie Ellis-Bextor (UK) Stockholmssyndromet Stress Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Rasmus (FI) Those Dancing Days Timbuktu T-Pain (US) Zara Larsson

Sexual assaults

In connection to the 2015 festival, Sveriges Radio reported that sexual harassment had occurred that year and that festival had been plagued by the same problems for several years.^[5][6] According to Dagens Nyheter this had been a problem since the festival started in 2000, but that the information was withheld due to concern for the reputation of the event.^[7]

In 2014 and 2015, 38 incidents of sexual harassment at We Are Sthlm were reported to the police by female visitors at the festival, most of whom were under 15 years of age,^[8] but the Stockholm police did not publicize the harassment and assaults reported in 2014 and 2015 in their press releases.^[9] Police spokesperson Varg Gyllander later explained that the reason was that most of the suspects were young males of immigrant background or refugees and that the police was wary of inflaming the ongoing political debate about Swedish immigration policies and the prevalence of criminality among immigrants and refugees.^[10]

Upcoming events

The next We Are Sthlm is planned for August 2016.^[11]

References

1. Ung is Swedish for "young" and 08 is the area code for the greater Stockholm area.
2. "Publikrekord mer än en halv miljon besök på Stockholms Kulturfestival och We Are Sthlm 2013". Stockholms stad. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
3. "We Are Sthlm". Stockholms stad. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
4. Sveriges Radio. "Ung08 blir We Are Sthlm".
5. Hannu, Filip. "Problem med sexuella trakasserier på festival för unga" [Problem with sexual harassment at youth festival]. Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
6. "Här är anmälningarna från 'We are Sthlm'". Expressen. 2016-01-13. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
7. "Stockholms stad kände till övergreppen i flera år". Dagens Nyheter. 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
8. "38 flickor utsattes för sexualbrott på festivalen". Svenska Dagbladet. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
9. "Rättsexpert dömer ut polisens tystnad om Kungsträdgården". Dagens Nyheter. 11 Jan 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
10. Crouch, David (11 January 2016). "Swedish police accused of covering up sex attacks by refugees at music festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
11. "Stockholms Kulturfestival & We Are Sthlm 16-21 augusti 2016. Fri entré: Start". kulturfestivalen.stockholm.se. Retrieved 2016-03-15.

External links

• wearesthlm.se