Dour Festival is committed to promoting a number of values shared by the organising team and its audience. To this end, it integrates all the dimensions of sustainable development into the festival: 

• the social pillar, through a policy of inclusion to facilitate access to the festival for all and ensure that everyone feels at home, and through partnerships with numerous local associations;
• the environmental pillar, with the help of its partner 3D ASBL;
• the economic pillar, with a strong anchoring in the region through a policy of short circuits.

Inclusion

Accessibility

Dour Festival aims to be accessible to everyone. With this in mind, the festival has teamed up with Inter, an organisation specialising in the disability sector, to make the festival accessible to people with disabilities. The facilities include

• Facilities for people with reduced mobility (special reception, dedicated car parks and campsites, raised podiums, care tents, rolling plates on the concert site for wheelchairs, on-site team to help with moving around…)
• An audio induction loop for the hearing impaired;

Every year, this work prior to the festival enables us to rethink the issue of accessibility and improve the infrastructures in place.

Gender

Gender issues (gender parity, gender minorities, etc.) are also at the heart of our concerns. That’s why Dour Festival fights for better representation of women and gender minorities in the music sector.

These values have been at the heart of the festival’s concerns for many years, both within the organising team and the organisation in general.

Article 27

Dour Festival collaborates with Article 27, whose aim is to facilitate access to culture for anyone living in a difficult social and/or economic situation.

You’re Safe Here

To ensure that everyone at the festival feels safe and supported, the organising teams have set up the “You’re Safe Here” plan in collaboration with the SISU, the Red Cross psychosocial emergency response service. This service trains many people present at the festival.

Environmental policy

We have chosen to entrust the environmental aspect to Dour Développement Durable ASBL (3D ASBL). These are the different areas in which the ASBL is working in conjunction with the festival:

Waste

3D ASBL was originally set up to raise awareness among young people about sorting waste and respecting the environment. Its members had already been involved in cleaning up the festival site after the event. Their experience enabled them to develop sorting methods adapted to the events sector and, more particularly, to the requirements of a festival the size of Dour Festival, located in the middle of nature. 

3D has therefore put in place

• The creation of a container park with numerous sorting fractions (PMC, cardboard, glass, batteries, iron, oils, etc.) with a view to recycling waste, recovering it or disposing of it, in accordance with current environmental regulations;
• Organic waste goes to biomethanisation;
• Compostable cutlery is used on food stands;
• Clear waste sorting signs on the festival site;
• Waste collection at the various campsites and a team dedicated to these areas to maximise public awareness of the importance of waste sorting;
• Training to raise everyone’s awareness of sustainable practices and waste sorting by a team on site and at the campsites. 
• The old disposable cups have been replaced by reusable ones.

→ Objective: waste reduction

Given that the best waste is no waste at all, we’re also taking steps to avoid waste at the festival as much as possible:

• We are working with glass crockery wherever possible (Bar Brasserie, backstage areas, VIPs, press);
• Water fountains, most of which are connected to city water, are also available to staff and teams, avoiding the distribution of over 50,000 plastic bottles;
• Calling on organisations dedicated to helping people in need to recover unused food and camping equipment that can still be used. On Mondays, festival-goers are asked to drop off their equipment and food at a collection stand on the campsites.

Set design

As much as possible of the festival’s scenography is made from recycled materials (pallets, wood, sea containers, etc.).

Signage and tarpaulins from previous years are also reused.

Charters

To ensure that everyone attending the festival is in line with our values, we have drawn up a number of environmental charters:

• A charter for festival-goers in the themed campsites;
• A charter for the campsite crew;
• A charter for stands and partners (ban on flyering, etc.);
• A Green Rider for the artists, making them aware of our values of short circuits, the fight against waste and waste reduction.

Mobility

We encourage taking public transport to the festival through a number of soft mobility alternatives:

• free shuttles from the station and a scheme with the SNCB (50% off the return train ticket to the festival)
• Buses departing from major European cities in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, with the aim of reducing the number of individual journeys;
• bicycle parking.

Cycle tours are also being organised in collaboration with Hainaut Culture Tourisme to help visitors discover and appreciate the heritage surrounding the festival.

Other initiatives

Planting trees on the site. A few trees are planted each year to promote biodiversity, increase soil fertility and create shady areas. Symbolically, they also serve as a reminder of the festival through commemorative plaques featuring memories or quotations.

We use LED lights as much as possible.

Since 2017, a new initiative has been launched: our Green Camping. This zero-waste campsite has a charter to raise awareness of environmental issues. Every day, local products are showcased during drinks offered to festival-goers staying at the camping site.

The cleaning products used throughout the site are 100% ecological;

Short circuits

In keeping with the value of local roots, Dour Festival puts the spotlight on local produce:

• Free drinks once a day at the Green Camping and the Comfort Camping for festival-goers to discover local products;
• Calling on a local caterer to prepare meals for the teams and artists, using local and seasonal produce;
• Meals and overnight stays booked with local businesses as part of the festival.

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