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The Down the Drain-promoted festival is creating the NorthSide Forest in a bid to strengthen biodiversity around Aarhus
By James Hanley on 11 Sep 2024
Denmark’s NorthSide is to build upon its pioneering sustainability work by creating the NorthSide Forest – the largest afforestation project in the region.
The scheme aims to strengthen biodiversity around the festival’s native city of Aarhus, as well as binding carbon equivalent to the event’s emissions for five years.
In collaboration with Aarhus Municipality and the Danish Climate Forest Fund, the Down the Drain-promoted event is funding the planting of at least 8.7 hectares of diverse conservation forest.
“At NorthSide, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of what a festival can and should be,” says Northside sustainability manager Maritn Thim. “We have taken substantial leaps regarding sustainability and continually experiment to see where we can make even more of an impact.”
Performers at this year’s festival included Massive Attack, Troye Sivan, Unkendt Kunstner, Coi Leray and Kaytranada.
Since its inception in 2010 with a goal to be “the greenest of the big festivals”, NorthSide has taken several steps to bring down carbon emissions and reduce waste. In 2019, it introduced recyclable plastic cups and has served exclusively plant-based foods since 2022 and announced earlier this year that it had reduced its CO2 emissions by 32% since going meat-free. It also became one of the first festivals in the world to only use 100% green electricity from the local power grid.
“It makes perfect sense to collaborate with a local cultural institution like NorthSide”
According to the team, the planting of the forest will help better protect the groundwater in the area and improve conditions for biodiversity.
“It makes perfect sense to collaborate with a local cultural institution like NorthSide,” says Nicolaj Bang, councilman for technical and environmental affairs in Aarhus Municipality. “Like a new forest, they started small and grew into an integral part of the city and its residents. By working with them and The Danish Climate Forest Fund, we can now show a prime example of how we can address both environmental and groundwater protection while providing great nature experiences for the residents of Aarhus in a single project.”
The Danish Climate Forest Fund has developed a standard for how forest planting contributes to Denmark’s climate efforts, meaning it is possible to quantify how much carbon the new forest will capture and store.
“This collaboration shows what we can achieve when we bring together actors committed to climate action,” adds Poul Erik Lauridsen, director of the Danish Climate Forest Fund. “Together, we can plant a forest that benefits the climate and provides Aarhus residents with a fantastic natural area close to the city. We are very proud to be part of this.”
NorthSide 2025 will take place from 5-7 June next year.
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