Salzgitter Old Town Festival: Chaos surrounding break dancers and escape routes!

Salzgitter Old Town Festival: Chaos surrounding break dancers and escape routes!

The annual old town festival in Salzgitter, originally planned for June 27, 2025, had to be postponed due to unexpected circumstances. The main reason for the relocation was the dismantling of the “Break Dancer” ride on Petershagener Straße, which was a major obstacle. The operator Frank Noack expressed concern about the communication with the authorities and reported difficulties and insults during the dismantling process. The time pressure was enormous, as the ride operator was only asked to dismantle the attraction two days before the festival began, which ultimately cost him 20,000 euros, as News38 reports.

Michael Buse, the first chairman of the Salzgitter Citizens' Festival Committee, pointed out that the rescue and escape routes must be clearly visible before and during the event, especially in the case of potentially large gatherings of people. The ride was also partially located on private property that was not part of the official festival grounds. The operator Noack announced that he would no longer serve Salzgitter, which fueled the discussion about the organization and communication with the local authorities.

Safety precautions and traffic measures

The Old Town Festival in Salzgitter is not just a celebration, but also a challenge to security precautions. In order to accommodate the large number of visitors, extensive road closures were set up in consultation with the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police station, the professional fire brigade and the Citizens' Festivals Committee. This coordinated measure aims to ensure security on the event site, which is supported by regular reviews of the security concept, as regionalheute.de describes.

A special feature of this year's festival is the “Silent Hour”, which will be held on Sunday, June 29th from 12 to 1 p.m. This initiative is aimed at sensitive people and people with autism and involves dimming the lights and switching off or at least turning down music and other noises. The city of Salzgitter is grateful to the Bürgerfeste e.V. Committee for implementing this important measure.

Information on safety at major events

Security at major events is not taken lightly. Local authorities are required to develop special security concepts that include structural, technical and organizational measures. These concepts must be submitted to the municipality, especially if an increased risk potential is identified. The relevant guidelines and sample documents can be viewed on the municipalities' websites, as confirmed by sicherheit-nrw.de.

The establishment of a central contact person for organizers is also intended to provide a uniform point of contact and facilitate coordination between the various offices and authorities. Systematic procedures are used to continuously improve security at events and to address the specific conditions on site.