Live Nation Finland requests that you do not access the Olympic Stadium area with bicycles, as there is no parking area reserved for them. However, it is not a ban, says marketing director Piia Lindroos.
British band On Saturday, Coldplay performed the first of their four concerts at the Olympic Stadium, and before that they published concert information and instructions on social media.
They included details on environmentally friendly ways to arrive at the concert area: The Olympic Stadium can be reached by public transport, on foot or by bike.
“Bike racks are coming”, reads the Instagram story published by the band. The stories are available for viewing 24 hours after their publication.
The call to arrive by bike is in line with the environmentally friendly goals of Coldplay’s tour, but contradicts the instructions of the concert organizer. Live Nation Finland, which is organizing the event, asks that you don’t come by bike.
“You cannot enter the stadium area by bike or electric scooter, because there is no parking area reserved for them,” Live Nation’s arrival instructions state.
When asked justifications for the instruction Marketing Director of Live Nation Finland Maid Lindroos didn’t want to give HS an interview. He agreed to comment on the matter only by e-mail.
“Sure You can come to Coldplay’s gig by bike,” writes Lindroos.
“However, the central location of the venue causes the challenge that the space is very limited. At large international concerts, the arrival of 45,000 people, queuing, services and logistics take up a considerable amount of space specifically in the stadium area.”
Lindroos states that there are public bike parks in the vicinity of the area, and that the city of Helsinki is aware of the need for a bike park near the stadium and is working on regional planning to organize appropriate bike parks.
“We have encouraged people to arrive at concerts in an environmentally friendly way by walking or using public transport,” says Lindroos.
Bicycle association board member Reetta Keisanen in my opinion, the instructions are unfortunate and not very modern.
The call applies to a remarkably large number of people, because during the summer, 22 percent of Helsinki residents move around by bike on weekdays, says Keisanen.
According to data provided by Live Nation, more than 42,000 people are coming to the Olympic Stadium every concert night, so more than 9,000 potential cyclists may now leave their spending money at home.
Although bike racks could not be arranged in the area for one reason or another, Keisanen wonders if a separate request not to arrive by bike is really necessary.
“After all, there are streets around it with bike parks on behalf of the city.”
In connection with the Flow festival organized in Suvilahti, Helsinki, appropriate bike parks have been seen over the years, Keisanen compares. In Europe, for example, for the Paris Olympics, city bikes have been added and the flow of bike routes has been improved.