The magic of à˜ya, the world's greenest music festival
“Oh, green world/ Don’t desert me now/ Bring me back to fallen town/ Where someone is still alive…” Never have these words felt more fitting than when belted out by Damon Albarn during a rallying rendition of Gorillaz’ 2005 hit “O Green World” at Norway’s Øya Festival. The music event – back in Oslo this year after a three-year hiatus – is the greenest in the world.
Øya, which earned that accolade at the 2020 A Greener Festival Awards, is a trailblazer. It has been running on renewable energy for over a decade. More than 90 per cent of all food served on the site is organic, and almost 40 per cent of it is meat-free. All meals are served in compostable packaging – some of the plates are even edible – and all waste is hand-sorted, with more than 60 per cent of it being recycled.
Guilt-free partying only scrapes the surface of what Øya has to offer. Taking place in Oslo’s tree-filled Tøyenparken, it is minutes away from deep, navy-blue fjords that shock away the clingiest of hangovers. Portable wooden saunas, sailed by uniformed captains, float along the water, inviting you to sweat out the sins of the night before. In the distance, islands – or øyer in Norwegian – mushroom up along the horizon, dotted with red and green summer houses. Within the site, the loos are not a living hell (UK festivals, this is possible), and nobody is throwing beer, either – it’s far too expensive to waste.
Every year, the line-up is superb – and it’s got a 50/50 gender split. Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience are one of the first bands to play this year, on the Wednesday. Mixing twinkly acoustic guitars and charming, boyish lyrics, they draw a sweet, swaying crowd on the crest of a hill, under dappled sunlight. Brenn, a youthful rock group that look and sound like they’re straight out of School of Rock (a good thing), thrash their way through a lively set, while New Zealand’s sonic shapeshifter Aldous Harding plays an eccentric show that climaxes with a slowly swelling live version of “Leathery Whip”. Read More…
