Continuation of the confusion around SMB Festival 2024. No consent from the president, the organizer does not change the plans

So far, SBM FFestival 2024 has been held at the Bemowo airport. However, local residents protested. They complained not so much about the noise – which they had become accustomed to – but about the fact that the event lasted until almost three in the morning for four days in a row.

This year's festival is planned for three days – from Thursday, August 29 to Saturday, August 31. Concerts are to end at 1 a.m. It is to take place on the grounds of the Academy of Physical Education in Bielany.

On Friday, August 23, the mayor of Bielany, Grzegorz Pietruczuk informed that the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, did not give permission for the event to be held on the premises of AWF. He explained that the negative decision was justified by the negative opinion of the city commander of the State Fire Service and the discrepancies indicated by the district sanitary inspection in the documentation submitted by the organizer. – The services confirm our position that a festival in this place is a terrible and dangerous idea – added Pietruczuk.

“Let's start with the fact that we are not against organizing cultural events, including mass events. However, not in this form and not with this approach of the organizer. The Bielański Forest buffer zone is a valuable ecosystem that will suffer due to excessive noise and several thousand guests,” the mayor noted.

He explained that local residents will also suffer, as “not one, not two, but three days will be forced to listen to concerts until late at night (2:30, 2:00 and… 3:00).” “Particularly the patients of the Bielański Hospital located right next to the university. We all remember what the last editions of the festival at the Bemowo airport looked like,” he added.

The event organizer issued a statement in which he said that the standard procedure of completing the documentation necessary to issue a permit for a mass event is underway. He also assured that the festival will take place on the grounds of AWF.

“In connection with the emerging media reports on the organization of SBM FFestival 2024, we want to reassure you that the standard procedure for completing the documentation necessary to issue a permit for a mass event is underway. The lack of a permit at the current preparatory stage is not exceptional, such situations occur throughout the country,” the organizers wrote in a statement.

They stressed that “it is not natural for such information to be passed on to the public via the media without verifying the facts, especially before the expiry of all administrative deadlines and appeal procedures available to the organiser”.

“We will see you at the AWF between August 29 and 31. See you soon,” wrote the organizers.

The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Warsaw responded to the matter. It reported that, according to the Bielański Forest reserve protection plan, events with a sound level exceeding 60 decibels cannot be organised in the immediate vicinity of this protected area, which practically excludes the possibility of organising the planned concerts.

“In response to information about the SBM FFestival, planned for August 29-31, 2024 in the buffer zone of the Bielański Forest nature reserve, we would like to inform you that the organizer has not applied to the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Warsaw for consent to derogate from the prohibitions in force in the reserve,” RDOŚ informed.

She noted that in response to news of the planned festival, she sent a letter to the organiser with information about the prohibitions in force in the reserve and the need to obtain an appropriate decision.

“This letter also presented the conditions resulting from the applicable protection plan regarding the organization of events with sound amplification in the areas adjacent to the reserve. In accordance with the provisions of the protection plan, which is an act of local law, any events may only take place if the sound amplification does not exceed 60 decibels, which in practice excludes the possibility of organizing a music concert in the immediate vicinity of the reserve,” she added.

RDOŚ stressed that if plans to organise the event without the required permit are maintained, it will submit an appropriate notification to the law enforcement authorities.