Northside
Where: Denmark
When: June 2020
Based in Aarhus – a university city on Denmark’s east coast – this three-day music festival has a strong line-up and an even stronger sustainability agenda. Rather than making money or being successful, the ultimate goal of the organisers has always been to create a sustainable festival. And for the past ten years, they’ve been working hard to reduce the Northside’s waste, cut down down its carbon footprint and find a solution to an eco food supply during the three-day event. Behind the scenes, no decisions are made without the environmental aspects being considered first.
One of our favourite aspects of their sustainability initiative is the ‘trash butlers’ and ‘trash maids’ – individuals dressed in stylish service outfits, wandering around the festivals handing out bags for rubbish and pocket ashtrays for cigarette butts. They also run a scheme where individuals can bag themselves a free beer after collecting a set amount of discarded cigarette butts. Whilst being unconventional, these initiatives are definitely working, with Northside being known as one of the cleanest festivals around.