Safety

When almost 30 000 people arrive to festival site, anything can happen. In order to guarantee the smooth and easy progression of things for all parties involved in the Ilosaarirock Festival, we have compiled some relevant guidelines and recommendations.

Safety guidelines

Here are some basic guidelines on how to react in possibly risky situations:

Follow the advice given by the festival organisers or security personnel.
Avoid dense masses of people if you feel uncomfortable in crowded places. The front areas of stages, especially the Main Stage, are places in which the pressure of the audience masses can increase quickly and the situation may become uncomfortable.
Should you nevertheless find yourself in a tight spot, stay calm. Do not go against the movements of the mass. Instead, when density decreases momentarily, try to move away. Do everything you can to keep your balance. Don't hesitate to use your voice to draw attention to yourself. The festival personnel and other festival goers will help you.
In case you notice an accident or any other factor or problem that risks the safety of yourself and others, let the security personnel know immediately.
If you feel dizzy among a large crowd, ask the person closest to you to help keep you on your feet. Keep up the contact with the person helping you until you feel steady again.
Always take care of yourself and your friends.
Crowd surfing, in other words surfing on top of a concert audience's heads supported by the audience members' hands, is forbidden in Ilosaarirock Festival. It is also forbidden to carry others on your shoulders.
According to new smoking legislation in Finland, smoking is forbidden in front of stages and inside Main Tent and Sue Stage marquee. Please respect this prohibition – it is nicer and safer for all of us when nobody's smoking in the crowd. Ilosaarirock Festival reserves the right to remove from the festival area any persons who do not respect this order.

Gates and security check

There are two gates to the festival area: the Main Gate on Linnunlahdentie, near Rekka Stage and the Second Gate close to the Sue Stage. A dedicated gate from Ravileirintä Camping Area directly to the festival area is also open all weekend.

The festival security personnel will check you at the gate for alcoholic drinks, alcohol bottles, or other objects classified as dangerous – these you cannot take with you to the festival area.

There can be long queues at the gates at times despite the number and hard-working attitude of the festival workers and security personnel. It's always worth checking if the other gate has shorter queues.

If you are going in to the festival area to see a particular artist performing, don't come at the last minute as the security checks take some time. This way you will see the entire gig from beginning to end. Especially the big names tend to cause queues at the gates.

Allowed and disallowed items

It is forbidden to bring alcoholic drinks or any kind of glassware to the festival area! Note that it is also forbidden to bring in alcohol bottles regardless of their contents. Alcoholic drinks can be left in the alcohol deposits (Viinanarikka) outside the festival area gates. There are many licenced bar areas in the Ilosaarirock Festival area. The age limit for all licenced bar areas is 18 years.

Objects or substances that can be used to harm others, cannot be brought in to the festival area. This means weapons of any kind, explosives, fireworks etc. Please note this includes long umbrellas.

You can bring an empty plastic bottle with you to the festival area and use it as your water bottle. There are several water taps in the festival area. Especially when it's hot, remember to drink also water and not only alcoholic drinks! This will improve your ability to keep on partying into the night. You can bring in also unopened plastic lemonade bottles, juice bottles and other similar non-alcoholic bottles – the keywords are plastic and non-alcoholic.

Items you can bring in to the festival area:

Unopened and clear plastic bottles smaller than 1,5 litre (no alcohol bottles)
Empty and clear plastic bottles smaller than 1,5 litre (no alcohol bottles)
Hairspray cans and other cosmetics products
Short umbrellas
Camping chairs (foldable, no garden chairs!)
DSLR-cameras

Items you cannot bring in to the festival area:

Drugs and alcohol
Alcohol bottles/containers
Plastic bottles bigger than 1,5 litre
Opened bottles
Long umbrellas
Laser pointing devices and strong floodlights
Guns, ammunition, explosives, torches and fireworks
Knives or blades, needles (unless there is a well-grounded reason)
Tools, such as multi-function tools
Any items or substances that could be used to harm others
Vuvuzelas, megaphones or other items that make loud noise
Video cameras and recorders

First aid

The First Aid point of the festival site is open through the festival from Friday 5pm to Monday 12am. It is located next to the Poppikoppi in the immediate vicinity of the Main gate.

Police

The police is present and on duty in the festival area during the weekend. Their office is located next to Main gate.

Protect yourself

The sound intensity at the festival area and particularly near the stages may exceed safe levels from time to time, so do protect your hearing and use earplugs or earmuffs. You can buy your own pair at the festival area.

Condoms are available at the festival area, as well as at the information points in the camping areas.

Cameras and tape recorders

All recordings of live performances by any other than authorised persons are forbidden under Finnish Copyright law § 2 and 45. It is forbidden to bring video cameras or tape recorders to the festival area. Security personnel have the right to confiscate forbidden recording devices and recordings should that be necessary.

Animals

Animals think that all Ilosaarirock festival performers are loud and that it's too hectic at festivals anyway. In other words, it is forbidden to bring pets to the festival area!

No crowd surfing

Crowd surfing, in other words surfing on top of a concert audience's heads supported by the audience members' hands, is forbidden in Ilosaarirock as it is in European festivals in general. Crowd surfing causes dangerous situations and also hinders possible help operations at front areas of stages. It is also forbidden to carry others on your shoulders. This ban has not been issued just for fun: the aim is to make sure that everyone is safe and to guarantee a pleasant experience for all festival goers. The festival organisation has the right to remove those who do not follow this order from the festival site.

Water safety

The safety of the Linnunlahti beach and the Rento Stage is supervised not only by the festival security personnel but also a life-guard, on-duty first aid specialists, and members of the voluntary lifeguard team Joensuun Järvipelastajat on-duty in boats. Nevertheless, everyone should take care of their friends. If your friend fails to come back from his/her swimming trip, inform the security personnel at the beach without delay.

Prepare yourself well for the festival

Bringing the right gear with you helps the weekend to pass more smoothly and reduces the number of so-called earthly worries. Wearing sensible clothes and, above all, sensible shoes, increases your comfort. Good festival shoes are strong, not too new and comfortable to walk in.

The following list includes some gear that we recommend for everyone to take with them to the festival:

rainproof clothing or a big refuse sack at the bottom of your rucksack
a warm sweater
something to wear on your head
money
a towel/swimwear
a toothbrush
food (something that is not easily perishable)
a toilet roll
some plaster for small accidents
ear plugs
painkillers and suntan cream
important phone numbers on paper in case you happen to lose your mobile
pen and paper for autographs or important phone numbers
official identification document (a photo ID card, a passport, or a driving license)

Info point, lost and found

The Ilosaarirock Festival info point will serve the audience through the weekend. It is located next to the Main gate. During the festival the lost and found is also at the info point. So if you have lost something, or find something that someone else has lost, just go to the info point.

After the festival on Monday at 12 noon, all items considered valuable are delivered to the North Carelian lost and found office, which answers to your queriest at number +358 600 550 127 (1,99 €/min + lnc). Office is open on Monday 14 July from 10am to 6pm. Website: www.pklp.fi. North Carelian lost and found office can be found from Rantakylä Shopping Mall, street address Puronsuunkatu 1.

For more information and feedback

You can ask about Ilosaarirock Festival or give us feedback by calling our info phone at +358 50 575 3975 from Mon to Fri between 9 am and 4 pm. The phone number is active till 19th July.

The programme, schedules and organisational matters are subject to change at any time. Should they occur, changes are announced immediately. Ilosaarirock Festival regretfully informs that it is a a common policy that customers cannot get a refund because of these matters.