Rise in coronavirus infections prompts event cancellations

Several public events scheduled to be held in Porvoo, Jyväskylä, and Kajaani were cancelled following an increase in the number of coronavirus infections in the country in the recent past, reported the national broadcaster Yle quoting event organisers.

An event organising company based in Tampere, RH-Entertainment, announced the cancellation of the Porvoo Soi Finnish Pop Festival and Jyväskylä’s Rock in the City scheduled for the next weekend.

RH-Entertainment CEO Riki Huhtala told the Yle that the Rock in the City was scrubbed as it would not be feasible to meet the safety demands placed on it by the central Finland authorities based on statements by health officials.

Sectioning off the festival area as required would have been too difficult, he said.

“With the Porvoo Soi Festival, there were no problems with the authorities. However, we decided to cancel the event, because there have been more coronavirus infection cases in the Uusimaa region. We also felt that we were starting to face pressure from the customers,” the Yle report quoted Huhtala as saying.

Earlier, the authorities cancelled other Rock in The City festivals scheduled to be held in Pori, Kuopio, Lappeenranta, and Rauma this summer.

Another event, Crazy Drivers Stunt Show, scheduled for Saturday in Kajaani has also been cancelled on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Minister of Science and Culture Annika Saarikko told the Yle on Sunday that the government has not made any new decisions regarding the cultural events.