Chancellor of Justice rebukes Turku officials over festival noise
Monday 10th August 2026 on 13:15 in
Finland
Finland’s Chancellor of Justice has criticised Turku’s environmental protection authority for failing to properly monitor noise notifications for the DBTL music festival, Yle reports.
The authority failed to comply with requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Environmental Protection Act, the Chancellor of Justice found. It should also have taken earlier decisions by administrative courts into account when assessing noise notifications for recurring events.
Complaints about noise from DBTL, held in central Turku around the city’s cathedral, have been filed since 2022. In previous years, performances continued as late as 2am.
The resident association Piispakatu-Biskopsgatan ry filed a complaint with the Chancellor of Justice last February. It alleged that Turku’s environmental protection authority and the Southwest Finland Police Department had not adequately monitored compliance with the festival’s noise notification or intervened when the event breached the decision.
The complaint concerned the 2024 and 2025 festivals. Turku had approved the events and issued rules on performance times and noise levels.
Following appeals, the Vaasa Administrative Court ruled on the festival’s noise notifications in December 2023 and April 2025. The court said music at DBTL should end at 10pm on Thursday and at midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Because of the court’s ruling, Turku’s environmental officials set those times for the 2025 festival. However, the schedule was announced only one week before the event, and the city did not expect the festival to comply with the order. The Chancellor of Justice said expecting such non-compliance was contrary to good administrative practice.
The Chancellor also found that the court’s decision should have been taken into account more fully in the noise notification decision for the 2024 festival. No action was considered necessary concerning the police department.
Turku’s construction and permits committee is due to discuss the decision on Thursday.