Closing off sea area outside Madonna concert venue annoys some boaters
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The waters outside Jätkäsaari are quiet around 18:00, after the sea area surrounding the venue of Madonna’s Helsinki gig has been closed off from waterborne traffic.
“There are no more boats here than on an average beautiful summer evening”, says Mika Lehtinen, who is accompanied by his friend Sari in his motorboat near the Jätkäsaari shore.
“We are out here out of principle. It annoys me that the sea area is closed off just like that. In my opinion noone can say that the waters are now a no-go area or exclusion zone just because some gig promoter so requests”, Lehtinen says sharply.
“I took part in the online discussions on the subject and many people there shared my view. True, someone pointed out a clause, according to which the sea area could be closed off for safety reasons, but in my opinion that reasoning does not apply to this situation.”
“It is a sold-out concert, so it would be nobody’s economic loss, even if boaters were allowed out here.”
Lehtinen’s party managed to stay in the area for 15 minutes past the deadline.
After that a security boat and a water scooter chased the protesters away.
The skies were also cleared over the concert venue after 19:00, as an airspace exclusion zone was set up.
Immediately prior to the closure of the airspace, the place was quite crowded, with five helicopters buzzing overhead and a number of light planes in the air. Some of the choppers were recording the event for the media - Helsingin Sanomat, for instance, filmed the crowds going in to the concert from on high.
More on this subject:
 Madonna does Helsinki, and Helsinki goes quietly mad
Madonna’s gig observed “free of charge” from neighbouring Lauttasaari
Helsingin Sanomat
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