Words by Abi Scaife
Muddy boots, aching feet and a hangover to wake the dead - these are the usual staples of a festival. But what if you could have all that, and know that your money isn’t simply going to fund a corporation?
The Roskilde Festival, based out of Roskilde, Denmark, is one of the biggest music festivals in Europe but, unlike others, doesn’t take a single penny. Instead, they donate any profits to charity.
At Smiley News, that’s the sort of initiative that we love; so naturally we had to go and check it out!
The first thing that we noticed at the festival was how kind everyone was. We don’t just mean a hello-how-do-you-do, polite in a British sort of way but real, genuine kindness.
Security is limited here because there is very little need for it; despite the exhaustion and the rain, fights very rarely break out. Perhaps that has something to do with the way they care for participants and volunteers, making sure that they are supported whenever necessary.
There are ‘Soft Spot’s dotted around the festival where people, based around the idea that everyone needs a soft place to land once in a while. You can go for a breather, have some quiet time, or talk about anything from mental health to safe sex and consent with people who are trained to have those conversations. They even run workshops to inform and support festival-goers wherever possible.
“Last year, we saw about a 50/50 split gender-wise … but this year it's about a 75/25 towards young men,” says Mika Christoffersen, the Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Behaviour at Roskilde Festival. “Young men really want to talk about these things. It makes sense, right? Those are the people that maybe don't have a friend group that talks about these things.”
The festival is also hugely committed to sustainability and becoming a festival that is better for the environment. They are tackling the biggest question of all; how do you do a temporary event sustainably?
Roskilde Festival may not have cracked the code yet, but they’re certainly closer than a lot of other festivals. Sanne Stephensen, the Head of Sustainability at the Roskilde Festival is the first to admit that they aren’t perfect, but that they are trying - and every year they get a step closer to their goal.
“We don’t have a crowd that wants to be [irresponsible] for the environment,” says Sanne. “But it has to be easier to do better.”
The festival has begun implementing better waste initiatives, moving away from fossil-fuelled energy, and reducing single-use items on the campsite, as well as adding a whole host of other helpful changes to make it easier for people to be eco-friendly throughout their stay
Plus, their sustainability doesn’t just last the week, and even little things make a big difference. One of our favourite factoids is that, in the lead-up to the festival, Roskilde partnered with organisations in Denmark to collect surplus paint which is used to decorate places like the Food Court. It means that they are working to reduce waste even outside the festival grounds, and make your surroundings even more colourful and exciting!
Roskilde also discovered that 50% of the festival’s negative impact actually comes from travel, particularly that of artists flying in, so they have teamed up with some of the other big festivals in Northern Europe so that a flight is never wasted.
Other than a core management team, the festival is run on the power of volunteers, with almost 30,000 people coming to lend a hand for the week, and 2,000 more volunteering year-round. People will volunteer alone, with clubs or friendship groups, or even as a family unit.
Yes, many of them are doing it for a free ticket to the festival, but so many are also doing it to make art, activism and culture available to as many people as possible, and so that all the profits can be funnelled to as many charities as possible.
There are so many different initiatives around positive change at the Roskilde Festival that, frankly, it’s hard to list them all, but probably one of the greatest things is how on board everyone is with the charity.
Don’t just take our word for it; even the artists playing the festival love what Roskilde is doing. We talked about all they are doing to make the world a better place with Rasmus, the drummer and vocalist of KATLA, an extreme metal band from Denmark, and he summed it up quite spectacularly.
“They care about everything, man,” says Rasmus. “They care about everything.”
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
Climate Reframe. Climate Reframe is committed to supporting the climate and environment movement in its transformation towards greater justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Find out more.
Every Can Counts. This is a not-for-profit recycling programme, encouraging people to recycle more often, to protect our planet. Support them here.
The Ocean Conservation Trust. A charity of Ocean optimists taking action to protect and restore nature for a thriving Ocean. Find out more here.
