The road to circularity: Episode 3 – Mobility

There are a whole lot of movements associated with a festival. There are thousands of visitors who travel to the site, but also a lot of suppliers. In addition, there are also many movements on the festival site itself with set-up and show. Almost all of these movements are at the expense of fossil fuels and generate tons of CO2 emissions. That is why it is important to map out all mobility and to manage it where possible.

We replace all fossil fuel for the artists’ flights with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (or SAF).

We encourage visitors to come to the festival sustainably.

We only make use of low emission or zero-emission machinery

VISITORS

Visitors of DGTL festival come from all over the Netherlands, but also from other countries. Car journeys and short-haul flights are extremely harmful to the environment. That is why we encourage visitors to come to the festival sustainably. There will be no parking spaces at the Amsterdam 2022 edition of DGTL and visitors are asked to walk or cycle if possible. For those who are unable to do this, there is a deal with NS where they can travel cheaper by train. All other public transport to Amsterdam will also be stimulated. From Amsterdam Central Station, there is a hybrid party ferry ready to take visitors to the festival site.

PRODUCTION

During production (assembly and dismantling of the festival) a lot of machinery is used to make it easier to navigate the terrain. For these production days, we have switched to the use of low emission or zero-emission machinery. Regular machinery is filled with biodiesel (HVO), which results in an 89% reduction in CO2 emissions. All crew is also briefed that they must travel as CO2 neutral as possible to the location. For example, by cycling or carpooling where possible.

ARTISTS

On average, one artist is responsible for 196kg of CO2 emissions. Most of the emissions come from short-haul flights. That is why we choose to keep the artists as local as possible. By doing so, it saves a lot of emissions, but there are always some international artists that need to travel by plane to get to DGTL. For this, we will have a world premiere in 2022 through a collaboration with SkyNRG and replace all fossil fuel for the artists’ flights with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (or SAF).

When the DGTL artists arrive in Amsterdam, they will stay in a circular hotel. From that hotel, the artists are transported via emission-free electric cars to the festival site. These measures enable all artists to travel to DGTL festival more sustainably.

MOBILITY TOOLS

And of course, it does not end at enabling the artists to travel more sustainably. We see the same need for DGTL’s visitors, and that is why we have developed a free tool together with SkyNRG and CHOOOSE, that visitors can use to address their travel emissions when traveling to DGTL by plane, car or train. It also offers a way to address emissions from accommodation. And because DGTL is here to leave a structural trace, we have developed a second tool together with SkyNRG and CHOOOSE, that will be usable by all festivals, artists, and music fans worldwide to address their travel emissions. Calculate your carbon footprint here.