FOR the most part, police kept crowds at one of Melbourne’s busiest festivals calm and under control. But there are always a few exceptions.

The annual Moomba Festival wrapped up on Monday, ending four days of parades, water sports, carnival rides and food trucks lined up along the bustling banks of the Yarra River.

Like most years, there was also violence. Footage captured by A Current Affair shows a number of fights being broken up by police.

The program claims “more than a thousand youths arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning to hold a huge street party where a series of violent incidences unfolded”.

For more than half a century, families have flocked to the Moomba Festival for its free entertainment and the infamous Birdman Rally. But the last few years have been marred by violence and gang activity. #9ACAhttps://t.co/k7tsAqpe8o pic.twitter.com/UVEFWhAaxd — A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) March 12, 2018

The footage shows a number of young women throwing punches and screaming at one another before police intervene and pull two groups apart.

“What a f***ing dog,” one girl screams.

Other fights broke out in the CBD on both Friday and Saturday nights and a number of arrests were made.

The Herald Sun reports that during a fight on the corner of Bourke Street and Hardware Lane on Sunday morning a man suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital.

This year’s festival saw fewer incidents than last year’s. In 2017, police arrested more than 50 people on a single night after hundreds of youths flooded the CBD to start brawls.

In 2016, a wild brawl shut down parts of the city completely. More than 40 people were involved in a fight on Swanston Street that saw 24 charged and police forced to use capsicum spray and batons to break them up.