The 10-day-long Ghent Festivities (Gentse Feesten) attracted 1.625 million visitors this year, 55,000 more than last year, the City announced on Monday.
On the last day of the event, 100,000 people flocked to the Flemish city to take part in the revelry, which was 10,000 more than last year.
"The vast majority of visitors came by bike or by public transport and made sure that this edition was cleaner with a quarter less waste," announced Ghent alderman for the festivities, Bram Van Braeckevelt.
Flemish mobility company De Lijn transported 272,000 passengers during this year's festivities, 7% more than the previous year. According to intermunicipal waste treatment company Ivago, 8% less waste was collected compared to the year prior.
There was also almost 25% less waste swept away from the streets, and the use of rubbish bins increased by 17%, according to the City's statistics.
With copious amounts of beer inevitably comes antisocial behaviour. However this year, even more so. Police reported a total of 75 fights during the festivities, against just nine the year before. 103 cars were towed during the celebrations, 1,246 people were fined €120 for urinating in public (compared to just under 1,000 last year), and 702 items were reported lost.
Firefighters were called to the city centre on 28 occasions. Four in response to fires, once for a flaming rubbish bin and six times for automatic fire alarms.
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The Ghent Festivities can sometimes be spoiled by transgressive behaviour and sexual violence. As such, this year, the organisers set up an assistance centre spanning over two marquees to help victims and spread awareness about sexual violence and unwanted approaches.
There were 60 reported cases of transgressive behaviour, 22 of which related to inappropriate touching.
