Police said Parklife festival passed 'without major incident' as a total of 70 arrests were made over the weekend.
The majority of the arrests at the festival, which saw 70,000 music fans fill Heaton Park on each day last weekend, were for drugs offences. A number of arrests were also made on suspicion of possession of a bladed article.
In full, the following arrests were made: seven people on suspicion of possession of illegal drugs, 22 on suspicion of possession with intent to supply illegal drugs, two on suspicion of possession of a bladed article, one on suspicion of a public order offence, one on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, one on suspicion of a sexual offence and one on suspicion of drink driving.
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GMP said 'despite challenges', including extreme weather and disruption on the Metrolink, the festival 'passed off safely and without any major incident.' Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, the lead for the Parklife policing operation, said: "I’m delighted to report that the vast majority of attendees at Parklife Festival enjoyed the event responsibly and safely.
"Most of the arrests made this weekend were the result of the proactive security operation led by Parklife and supported by GMP. Thanks to meticulous work by officers and staff, illegal drugs and weapons were prevented from entering the festival where they could have done serious harm to the public.
"This festival is important to Greater Manchester, and I am grateful to attendees for their enthusiasm and their patience through some of the challenges and for engaging positively with our officers. Finally, I want to thank our partners including Parklife organisers, North West Ambulance Service, Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council who were involved in months of planning and helped organise this fantastic event and made it a success."
This comes after stop-and-search powers were stepped up around Prestwich and Heaton Park on Sunday (June 11). Police said this was not implemented because of a specific incident.
However, deputy chief constable Terry Woods revealed that the measures were put into place after the police received intelligence relating to the two-day festival. He said the force received 'very credible evidence of gangs carrying machetes and knives' at Heaton Park.
Mr Woods, who was one of GMP's commander at Parklife, told the police, fire and crime panel what happened. He said: "Without going into huge detail, we got some very credible evidence of gangs carrying machetes and knives. One of the senior officers as part of that operation did a Section 60 authorisation.
"We publicise it so it's no secret – you'll see it on Facebook etc. That then gives the officers in that area a more proactive power to search people – and they did so."
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