How to: a Safer Festival Experience

In the wake of a paneuropean #metoo movement of the music industry, we have to ask ourselves: What role do sexism and sexualized violence have in individual festival experiences? - Act Aware, an initiative promoting awareness at events - conducted a study on the topic and asked thousands of festival attendees this question. In this session, we would like to share and discuss the results of this large-scale study with you. Sarah Bergmann from Act Aware will present the outcome and will, together with Julia Gudzent from Misc Berlin - a diversity agency focussed on the cultural sector - discuss the status quo at live events and in the music industry. Mikko is the promoter and CEO of Ruisrock which is one of the oldest music festivals in Europe established in 1970. Responsibility is one of the core values of the festival and Ruisrock is very committed in the task of changing the festival culture for better. Mikko states that festivals need to be part of the change and have the responsibility over the visitors to create safer festivals for everyone. Together we want to find put what the most pressing issues are and where we have to come in, take responsibility and conduct measures for a more inclusive festival experience. Misc Berlin, Act Aware and Ruisrock are all working on encouraging internal rethinking and concretely helping the festival landscape to become a safer and less discriminatory place. Let's share experiences, benefit from synergies, and work on finding solutions for a truly free-spirited festival seasons in 2022!