Festivalpark Werchter Belgium
Rock Werchter is taking concrete steps towards being a more sustainable festival. The challenges are great. The will, the enthusiasm and the determination to reduce the ecological impact of the festival are even greater. The festival has been investing in sustainability for years now. Rock Werchter has chosen to take action with concrete goals. Recently, the festival has joined Green Deal Circular Festivals. And this spring, Rock Werchter started working towards the VOKA Sustainable Business Charter. Minor actions, major initiatives, and, above all, ambition - that's what is needed to achieve these goals. A sustainably organised festival isn’t a trend; it's a reality.
Tens of thousands of festival-goers and thousands of staff members travel to Werchter. The options for travelling to the Festivalpark with minimal impact are many and accessible. Rock Werchter offers comfortable, carefree, and swift alternatives to the car to reduce CO2 emissions.
Since 2006, the festival has offered festivalgoers an all-in ticket. Rock Werchter ticket holders travel for free on regular trains to/from Leuven or Aarschot. Shuttle buses ensure smooth and fast connections between the station and the festival. In addition to the regular services, special night trains to destinations including Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent are provided at the end of every festival day, with reasonably-priced tickets.
Festival-goers and crew are increasingly travelling by bike. Free and secure bike parking facilities are available near the Festivalpark. For those coming from further away free park & bike facilities are located within 15 minutes' cycling distance from one of the bike parking facilities near the festival.
While cars are not banned, they are not actively promoted. Those wishing to park at one of the festival's parking areas must purchase a parking ticket in advance. Carpooling is strongly recommended.
Reducing waste, collecting more, and achieving a circular economy—it's a collective effort. Suppliers, sponsors, volunteers, artists, and crew all play a part. At our food stands, we serve meals on cardboard plates, having long banned plastic straws. In Apero areas, hospitality spaces, and backstage, drinks are served in glassware. Within the Festivalpark and at The Hive, beers, cocktails, and coffee are served in reusable cups. Soft drinks and water are sold in rPET bottles or cans. Empty reusable cups are collected at return/recycling stations, where a deposit (0.3 coin) is refunded via a cashless wristband. Festival-goers who collect and return 15 rPET bottles or cans receive a free drink coin.
Waste is selectively sorted at the Festivalpark and The Hive, with clear signage and designated bins for each type of waste stream. Eco-teams assist festival-goers, and at the festival's container park, further sorting occurs. Waste becomes a resource, with initiatives like creative reuse of banners and banners transformed into shopping and weekend bags, available in our shop. rPET is recycled into new rPET, and collected wood feeds into an upcycling project.
Special attention is given to campsites where significant waste gets left behind. We aim for a circular approach here too, encouraging clean campsites through communication and motivation. "Join Us on the Road to Zero Waste" is our campaign motto. Guests at The Hive or The Hive Resort receive a recycle kit at check-in, including bags for general waste and PMD, along with sorting instructions. Dedicated festivalgoers, tidying the campsite with enthusiasm, earn rewards; returning a full trash bag to a recycle/return point earns a zero waste coin redeemable for rewards (free coins, sustainable gadgets) at the recycle shop in Central Park at The Hive. We urge campers to bring fewer belongings and take their tents and gear home afterward. Any surplus food can be donated to the Food Bank at The Hive.
When the landscaped park was created, the Festivalpark gained a high-voltage cabin. The backstage area runs on green energy from the first day of setup. We use green grid power as much as possible. However, we have not been able to completely dispense with diesel generators. But there are fewer than ever. The diesel generators are also used more intelligently, and where possible we opt for hybrid solutions.
The existing partnership with the Bolt energy platform is being scaled up. A temporary wind turbine at North West Walls steals the spotlight as the first-ever windmill at a Belgian festival, and by extension, on the European mainland. The turbine is 20 metres tall, with a 10-metre diameter. It generates an average of 110 kWh of electricity per day. At the Festivalpark entrance, a large mobile solar installation covering 170m2 provides additional solar energy. The North West Walls site and Aperol stand near the main entrance run entirely on locally generated green power. The power generated on-site will be stored in batteries for use during peak times. Rock Werchter makes optimal use of green energy. Even organic waste from areas like Central Park, De Smaakfabriek, and the backstage kitchens plays a role in this sustainability effort. At Ecowerf in Leuven, this waste is processed in a biodigester, converting it into green electricity.
We offer local alternatives to artists for their special requests on their hospitality rider. Our catering partner, Bevers & Bevers, primarily works with Belgian suppliers. Crew and volunteers are served local products whenever possible. We also opt for local suppliers where possible in the case of non-food purchases. Our merchandise is adorned with the fair wear label. Local ingredients also come first in our Belgian pop-up restaurant, De Smaakfabriek. Curated by Loïc Van Impe, in collaboration with Boerenbond, the restaurant features dishes made with ingredients sourced directly from local farmers.
More than 10,000 volunteers from over 180 organisations work with us during the festivals - on the bars, in the eco-teams, at the parking facilities and at the campsites. These associations receive a fair compensation, which is reinvested in youth clubhouses, school enhancements, sports club equipment, and more. In this way, Rock Werchter takes action on social responsibility.
The festival is also committed to diversity and inclusion. We work hard together with Inter to make the festivals accessible for people with disabilities. We raise awareness of safe and healthy festivals via Feel Good, Rock Werchter; we are joint founders of We Care A Lot. Rock Werchter is a place where everyone should feel safe, welcome and comfortable.
At the end of each festival day, those who prefer not to return their reusable cup to a recycle/return point can drop it in a 'gitterbox'. Proceeds from the deposit of reusable cups collected in the gitterbox support two projects by the NGO Join for Water: Waterwijs Werchter and a project in the Andes.
We raise awareness among our crew, suppliers, artists, and festival-goers. Together, we rock our way to a more sustainable festival. Our Werchter Rocks Green campaign is shared through mailings, social media, mobile apps, and on-site via screens and information boards. Festival-goers and crew will get concrete tips on how to contribute to a greener Rock Werchter.
We also prioritize feedback and sharing information about our achievements. You can consult our sustainability report for 2023 via this link.
We keep working. We learn. We research. We have a clear goal in mind: Rock Werchter must and will become even more sustainable in the (near) future.
Go Green, Rock Werchter!