The incident occurred in the summer of 2022 at the festival One Wknd Only during a concert with the band Bolaget. When Erik Eriksson’s friends lifted him up so he could see the concert better, a security guard reacted and shouted at them to put him down. He was then forced to leave the concert area and had his festival ribbon cut off.
He made a report to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO), which started an investigation. In it, the festival replies that there was a special stand accessible via a ramp for people in wheelchairs where Erik Eriksson was offered a seat. They also respond that he was not discriminated against, but was one of several people who were turned away for not heeding calls to follow the rules of order.
Was discriminated against
But in its investigation, the DO has taken note of the fact that Erik Eriksson and his company understood that he was not welcome in the adapted stand, which was in the VIP area. When DO has now completed its supervision, they state that the festival discriminated against Erik Eriksson by subjecting him to a lack of accessibility.
In addition to lack of availability, DO also investigated whether the festival was guilty of so-called direct discrimination by rejecting Erik Eriksson. But on that point the festival is cleared because it cannot be said that he was turned away because of his disability.