Drama At White Night Melbourne: Protests, Stabbing & Violence Amid Festivities

White Night festival in Melbourne's CBD has drawn a number of incidents this weekend, including reports of a stabbing, 20 arrests surrounding a brawl and a protest against Melbourne's rough sleeping laws.

The event — which pulls between 500,000 and 600,000 people every year across its myriad of light and art events — saw 20 arrests of "two groups of youths" between 14 and 19, The Age reports, who were planning a brawl with knives, bats and knuckledusters at Federation Square.

Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said, "They take a disliking to each other and, for some reason, the groups were deciding last night they'd have a go."

At Southern Cross station, a 21-year-old young woman was also allegedly slashed in the arm on Saturday night, with police looking for three young girls believed to be involved in the attack. Nine News reports the victim has non-life threatening injuries.

White Night also saw activists interfere with the projections at the State Library Of Victoria with their own projection of "#NoHomelessBan" and "sleeping rough is not a crime", in protest of Melbourne's proposed rough sleeping laws.

As The Guardian reports, the projection was unexpected but White Night's artistic director David Atkins was aware of the protest itself. He said, "They’ve got a right to [protest] — no one’s got any issue with it. It will only become an issue if it becomes unruly or if there is property damage or danger to the patrons, otherwise it will proceed as they’re planning it to."

Despite the trifecta of incidents, White Night's fifth iteration was deemed a success by organisers, with Atkins stating, "Last night hundreds of artists, musicians and performers all came together to deliver a spectacular night of art and culture.

"We are thrilled the event was so well received and would like to thank all the artists who participated and the hundreds of thousands of visitors who attended."

White Night Melbourne featured a number of light and art installations around the CBD, with White Night's first regional event, White Night Ballarat, due to take place on 4 and 5 March.