1,500 people attend free party, Teknival in Dorset

More than 1,500 people are thought to have attended anniversary celebrations of the UK’s Teknival rave over the Bank Holiday weekend.

[Update June 1: Read legendary rave documentarian Matthew Smith's full report here.]

The illegal rave went ahead on private land in Dorset close to Corfe Castle, a historic site surrounded by farmland in the south of the UK.

Organisers began setting up sound equipment at the unlicensed event on Saturday, May 27, which was said to be heard by locals until the morning of Sunday, May 28. Police eventually shut down the event at 7:30AM on Sunday.

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Dorset Police received complaints from those living in the nearby town of Wareham, who said that "loud music" could be heard throughout the night.

Police were called to the scene at around 10:40PM on Saturday night, where approximately 500 vehicles had descended on private property, according to Dorset Police.

“We are fully aware of the distress and disruption this incident is causing to the local community and visitors to the area,” said Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan of Dorset Police on Saturday night.

“We would like to reassure them that we are fully aware of this large gathering of people and we are assessing the situation and taking steps to deal with it.”

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Dorset Police confirmed that they were on the scene “making enquiries” on Saturday night, and were in contact with the landowner and other partner agencies.

“There are road closures in place to prevent direct access to the area,” Callaghan said. “We would like to send a direct message to those at the event – you are trespassing, please leave and go home immediately.”

Dorset’s UKTEK 23 went ahead in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Teknival, a large free party often taking place for several days in undisclosed locations. Last weekend, a similar event went ahead in France, attended by 30,000 people.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter