Copenhagen street party comes undone

A city centre ‘party’ involving Copenhagen’s Hyskenstraede, a side street of the pedestrian street Stroget, turned insane as hundreds of people sporadically started vandalising the entire area. Up to 400 vandals destroyed property while police stood by and let it happen.

The ‘Undoing the city’ street party was a city-approved event, in which its participants apparently mistook the intended meaning. Hyskenstraede was worst hit, as the party devolved into total chaos. Bonfires were lit in the street using items stolen from local shops whose windows were smashed to gain access.

Police, however, kept a low profile and allowed the left-wing celebration to continue. At one point they asked organisers to turn down the music and disband. But by 02.30, the partygoers went berserk, forcing police to finally step in and quell the riot.

Since no arrests were made, Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen is now calling for an explanation from the city’s police department. The Copenhagen Post reports that the city council culture department was fully behind the 3-day ‘Undoing the city’ party and used public funds to support it.

“We can of course see that in retrospect it was not a wise move when seeing how the party developed. If we had known how this little gathering would shape up, we would not have had it in our programme,” the party organisers ‘Openhagen’ said in a press release. The city, however, has emphatically suggested it won’t be approving next year’s street party.