Video has surfaced of a security guard apparently hitting influencer Alennah van Wijk and her team. Dropzone Festival denies any involvement with the individual.
Most attending the 2024 edition of Dropzone Festival this week have likely enjoyed hard dance sets on the sunny beaches of Pag Island in Croatia. Influencer Alennah van Wijk, her partner Frank, and her friend Robin appear to have had their good time overshadowed by an altercation with a security guard, however.
A montage of three video clips posted in r/Hardstyle by an anonymous Redditor show different stages of the apparent scuffle. In the first, the guard can be seen striking Frank before van Wijk stands between them, at which point he threatens her as well. The second clip shows the guard struggling with and hitting Frank, who is sitting in the driver’s seat of the car and exclaiming, “Let me get out, I’ll pay.” In the third clip, the guard attempts to forcibly take van Wijk’s car keys from her, striking her and Robin, who is recording the video, after she attempts to fight him off.
A comment on the Reddit thread that van Wijk later confirmed to be a statement from Robin alleges that the guard attempted to extort the three of them. It says that in the midst of confusion over parking arrangements for their vehicle, the guard became violent, at which point “he hit Frank in the face and dragged him from the car, as shown in one of the videos.”
Robin’s statement then says the guard “demanded €200 in cash payment,” and that while van Wijk and company attempted to get the money together, the guard demanded the keys to their car. It was at that point that “he forcefully took the keys,” Robin alleges, explaining that Frank came to intervene “after he punched her in the face several times.”
In a statement posted in the Reddit thread, Dropzone Festival denied any formal connection with the security guard in the video.
“We are working with the authorities from the moment we found out about this awfull incident that happened to some members of our media crew,” reads Dropzone’s statement. “We strongly condemn any type of violence but this security guy has nothing to do with Dropzone and we have no control over any parking areas in Novalja and Zrce Beach. This is an isolated incident and we will do our best to work with the responsible people in the city and the beach to make sure these things never happen again and ruin all the effort we put into making this an amazing festival safe for every single person.”
Alennah van Wijk later posted a statement on Instagram saying that her, Frank and Robin are “just a bit bruised and mentally shaken, but otherwise fine.” Notably, it also backs up Dropzone’s claims. “The security guard shown in the video is working for an external security company in Zrce Beach,” part of it reads. “We have reported the incident to the police and are in active contact with the organization to determine the appropriate follow-up steps.“
Dropzone Festival has taken place annually since 2020, and many consider it the spiritual successor of Croatian hard dance gathering Hard Island. Headliners for the currently underway 2024 edition include Sub Zero Project, D-Block & S-Te-Fan, and Darren Styles.
This is not the first time the violent acts of local workers have been captured on video at Zrce Beach. In 2019, a clip appeared to show three bouncers at an after party chasing a single attendee into the sea with batons.
EDM Identity will update this developing story as more information becomes available.
This article has been amended to include information shared in Alenna van Wijk’s Instagram statement.
