Sustainable festival
It is important for us to organize a festival in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. We care about the environment, our ecological footprint and social aspects of the sustainability.
Points of attentions at Viljandi Folk Music Festival 2019:
- Reusing and recycling materials
- Collecting and sorting waste
- Reducing and compensating our ecological footprint
- Accessibility and safety
- Awareness-raising
- Alternative means of transport
- Social equality
NO SINGLE USE PLASTIC DISHES AND CUTLERY
We have decided to completely give up single-use plastic dishes and cutlery in the catering of the team, artists and audience. Every year the festival caters around 25 000 visitors, 300 team members and 500 artists. The alternative for the audience will be compostable dishes, provided by the partner of the festival Vegware. Reusable dishes are planned for the team and artist catering. “We are prepared to provide food in reusable dishes for 400 people, every day of the festival, three times a day,” says the household manager Meeli Liik.All festivalgoers are encouraged to bring their own reusable dishes and water bottles. The only criterium is that that the plates have to be made of material that doesn’t break easily. “Most of the caterers have promised to give a little discount to the people who have their own plates and cutlery,” says the sales outlet manager Jaana Hinno. Clean tap water is available at the water points, located in several places in the town and the festival area. There will also be a dish rinsing point in the festival area.”
RECYCLE
We use recycled materials to design the stages and the festival area. Most of the materials have seen many festivals already and will, in different forms, see many festivals to come. We organize different collecting actions, if needed, to reuse old clothes, records etc in the organizational works of the festival.
The youth of ETHNO camp will have a uniform by printing the ETHNO logo on the old T-shirts they bring along themselves.
We create many products on the principles of recycling. For example, in collaboration with NGO Workshops (which focuses on creating working opportunities for mentally challenged people), the old fabric banners get a new life as bags for folk friends. With the help of Estonian Native Crafts Department of Viljandi Cultural Academy, we have recycled the old festival T-shirts by printing new patterns on them or by turning them into new products altogether. We offer pure drinking water to everyone and we invite everyone to refill their bottles and cups before and during the festival to reduce the amount of plastic bottles bought at the festival.
COLLECTING AND SORTING WASTE
Organic waste, packagings and mixed municipal waste are collected separately. “Waste sorting is the key because that is the only way how we can recycle packagings and compost organic matter,“ stresses the field maintenance manager Kirsika Meresmaa, “This year we are involving volunteers for the first time to make the sorting as efficient as possible, we’ll have so called “green ambassadors” at the waste collection points who are advising the festivalgoers on waste sorting.”
The festival is co-working with Väätsa Landfill to compost compostable dishes and food waste. The project manager of Väätsa Landfill Toomas Laidmets says that this is the first time of composting a material like this, both for the festival and for the Väätsa Landfill. ”That’s why we can’t give a 100 % promise of what will the final result be and when will it be ready. Nevertheless, it is crucial to start trying and testing because the topic is extremely important,” adds Laidmets. “For the landfill it is vital that the festival hands us waste sorted as well as possible and Viljandi Folk Music Festival is the first big event in Estonia that is prepared to do such a thorough preparatory work.”
