The Albanifest in Winterthur is one of the largest folk festivals in German-speaking Switzerland. 53 editions, 120,000 people, street music, outdoor bars. Friday night, all quiet. Saturday night through Sunday was another story.
Someone sprayed pepper spray in the middle of the crowd. 23 people with severe eye irritation and breathing problems. Three ended up in the hospital. And the situation got out of control in such a way that the police had to protect the health post itself from the assistants who had become aggressive.
Add to that the theft of a luxury watch for several thousand francs (the owner was beaten first), two suspected drug dealers arrested, a possible air gun wound, illegal drone flights over the compound, and 50 traffic tickets around for illegal tuning and noisy cars. In total, toilets treated 143 people over the weekend, twelve more than in 2025.
The interesting thing is that the official police statement presented all this under the title "first quiet day, second lively night". Lively is one way to call it.