Have you ever been to a festival and enjoyed good music, but at the same time felt like you were wading in a sea of plastic glasses? Imagine the same patch of grass without the sea of people. The place will perhaps remind you more of a rubbish heap than an arena for concerts. – It has never looked like that with us. We want to become Norway’s most sustainable festival, says festival director of Ravnedalen Live in Kristiansand, Mira Svartnes Thorsen. Since the festival’s first year of existence in 2016, they have fine-tuned their own footprint on the environment. From 2019 to 2022, they have reduced the amount of residual waste by almost 80 per cent. At the festival site of Ravnedalen Live, no one is watering beer glasses. One of the measures has been to bet on local food producers. Local vegetarian and organic food is among the measures that have reduced waste. They also have a deposit station so everything is sorted correctly. – Had been embarrassed Another festival in Southern Norway, which wants to develop in the field of sustainability, is Sommerbris. In July, it was held for the first time on Odderøya in Kristiansand. But the grass in the area was not all green. The plastic bottles flew between the feet of the audience at Sommerbris in Kristiansand this summer. Photo: Inger-Lise Hansen / news Marketing manager Arne Simonsen was presented with a photo from the festival area. – If you had shown me the same picture after eight years of Sommerbris, I would have been embarrassed. We want to lift it up to a much better level next year. Simonsen believes it is becoming increasingly important for more festivals to act greener. – If we manage to have good systems and good waste management, we will also get a well-educated public, who want to contribute to ensuring that we are not left with a bad environmental stamp. And next year they will use recyclable glasses. Is it important to you that festivals have environmentally friendly solutions on the festival grounds? Yes, I’m happy to know that I can perform environmentally friendly at a festival. No, I don’t think about it that much. Show result Tidy festival grounds provide a better experience More and more festivals will walk the green path. Some are already environmentally certified. But especially the Øyafestivalen in Oslo has taken the lead as a leading player in environmental protection in the industry. They are also one of the greenest festivals in the world. – I believe that the festival experience is better when it is sustainable, and that it becomes more important for more people, says sustainability officer for Øya, Mia Frogner. At the Øyafestivalen in Oslo, they have among other things introduced the public to edible plates and beer glasses that are reused. In 2019, they were awarded two awards for their work for sustainability. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Frogner emphasizes that they are very aware that cultural experiences also have a cost for the climate. She is positive about several guidelines on the environment and sustainability in the industry. Both from the public sector and from those who rent out areas. – We also think it would have been nice to have support schemes for environmental measures. It often costs money to start this type of work. Øyafestivalen has conducted its own audience survey. 90 percent said it was important to them that a festival is environmentally friendly. Here are some other festivals that work to protect the environment: Press contact for the rock festival Tons of Rock, Lars Tefre Baade, says that environmental focus is an important part of the festival’s operations. They are environmentally certified as environmental lighthouses and aim to become one of the country’s most environmentally friendly festivals. Photo: Jon Anders Møllen / news Bergenfest writes that they are working to become one of Europe’s greenest festivals. They have measures such as an all-electric festival area, locally produced and green food and will produce reusable merch next year. In 2010, the Tønsberg-based festival Slottsfjell received Yourope’s Green ‘n’ Clean Award. Yourope is an organization for European festivals, and has developed a tool to help them become greener in their operations. Photo: JOHN-ANDRE SAMUELSEN / JOHN-ANDRE SAMUELSEN Vinjerock is located in Jotunheimen, surrounded by Norway’s highest mountain. On their website it is stated that the aim is to arrange festival experiences in harmony with nature. Among other things, they are a paperless festival, and have a ban on glass bottles. – Must shift responsibility Ravnedalen Live has spent a total of NOK 2 million on creating a more sustainable festival. – We think it’s worth it. It is an investment in the future. Festival manager Thorsen wants more action from the public, so that it is easier to carry out environmentally friendly events. – When we are going to drive differently to help solve the climate and environmental crisis, we as an industry must get clearer driving rules from the public. She says it is not a level playing field, and believes that those who take the lead in this work lose out greatly by taking responsibility for the community. – It can’t be like that. The authorities must come forward aggressively with regulations, incentives and action. Festival manager for Ravnedalen Live, Mira Svartnes Thorsen, calls for clearer guidelines from the public. Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news – All parts of society must contribute Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen says it is inspiring to see the work of Ravnedalen Live and other cultural actors. She says that the festival support scheme requires organizers to describe how they work to reduce their environmental footprint in their applications. If there should be stricter environmental requirements for festivals, she mentions some initiatives the industry can use. Kulturrom has launched a checklist for greener purchasing of technical equipment. The Green Producers tool has been developed on behalf of the sector itself. – All parts of society must contribute to achieve the goal of stopping climate change, writes Trettebergstuen to news. Jørgen Skauge is a cultural adviser in Kristiansand municipality. He writes that they encourage all cultural actors to operate as sustainably as possible, and that sustainability perspectives are included in the assessments of several schemes. – The municipality believes that there is an additional responsibility on public actors and major actors in the cultural sector to take the lead and share experiences. He highlights challenges linked to the prerequisites of the various festivals, when it comes to setting stricter requirements. Both the size of the festival, the number of employees and where the festival is held play a role. – We must take that into account when we look at how we can emphasize sustainability perspectives more in our guidelines going forward.
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