Smukfest crowds disrupt daily life for Skanderborg residents

Smukfest is drawing around 60,000 visitors a day, including volunteers, creating traffic problems and other disruptions for residents of Skanderborg, DR reports. The festival is taking place in Bøgeskoven, a forest in the city.

Social Democratic city council member Andreas Tang-Brock has invited residents to describe the problems caused by the festival. His Facebook post has received more than 160 comments, many about long queues and traffic diversions that make it harder to shop, get to work or attend medical appointments.

Clara Sørensen, 29, works in Horsens and has a one-year-old son who has recently started at Skovhuset nursery on the edge of Bøgeskoven. This week, collecting him in the afternoon has taken up to two hours because traffic diversions have forced her to drive through the city.

When they reach the forest, she said, there are large crowds, making it difficult to park and turn around near the nursery. Barriers have also been installed for staff and people entering and leaving the festival.

SuperBrugsen in Skanderborg is also dealing with congestion. Store manager Søren Stoltenberg said the festival brings extra customers but makes deliveries difficult.

“There are a couple of kilometres from the motorway to us, and normally it does not take long. But this week, it has taken drivers up to an hour,” he said.

Sørensen and Stoltenberg said they appreciated what Smukfest contributes to the city but wanted Skanderborg Municipality and the festival to take greater account of residents’ daily lives.

“The dialogue with politicians should perhaps start a little earlier before the festival begins,” Stoltenberg said.

Mayor Frands Fischer of the Social Democrats said he understood that the festival could frustrate some residents. The municipality introduced new traffic measures this year in cooperation with the police, emergency services and Smukfest, including changes to one-way traffic on some roads.

“It may be that this was the wrong way to do it. In any case, it is something we need to evaluate,” Fischer said.

Smukfest content director Trine Bang said the festival was aware of its impact on Skanderborg and informed residents before, during and after the event. However, she said a festival with around 60,000 daily visitors could not avoid being a nuisance for some people.