Dyrenes Alliance at Roskilde Festival!
Free pizza rolls, thought-provoking signs, exciting stalls and great costumes - if you were at Roskilde Festival this year, you probably couldn't help but notice the activists from Dyrenes Alliance. At an event with around 130,000 people, we made sure to raise awareness, start conversations and do our part to change the debate. And what better place than a hotspot for music, activism and a festive atmosphere to talk to people and make them aware of what's going on in the industry!
"Try VR and get a free vodka shot!"
All days of the festival, guests could find activists on the street ready for conversations; several times at a table where they could get a shot of vodka or a glass of rosé wine if they were ready to watch Meet Your Meat or a five-minute VR about the dairy industry. Here, activists stood ready to grab festival-goers who were shocked when they had to face reality. It's always hard to see pigs having their throats slit for a piece of bacon, or calves being torn away from their mothers so people can steal their milk. We could advise on how to deal with the awful truth and offer guests a shot of vodka to wash it down.
Die-in against the fishing industry
On Monday it started raining, and we saw a great opportunity to bring attention to the many animals that live underwater - at least until humans come and remove them so they can kill them or use them for entertainment. To bring attention to the fish, the activists did a die-in where they wore makeup that resembled fish scales, were doused with theatrical blood and wrapped in ghost nets to symbolize the massacre that is happening to the sea creatures. The action was cold but very successful, causing a lot of people to stop and engage in conversations about the fishing industry and what it does to the individuals in the ocean. The action was therefore repeated on Thursday when some sushi chefs held a workshop on "gently caught fish", which turned out to be about gentleness towards the marine environment, and not towards the individuals that are killed for a taste experience. Again, the action got a lot of attention and started some important conversations!
ZOO is a prison for animals
On Wednesday morning, the activists got up early and made a banner drop from the ZOO tower: a camp that glorifies wild animals locked up in small cages for people to watch. Of course, we wanted to highlight this too, so they made a big banner that read "Prison for animals", which could hang on the tower and complete the ZOO logo. We took some cool pictures and then left the banner up so that festivalgoers would have something to think about when they woke up later in the morning with a hangover.
"Sign up for the Vegan Challenge and get a free pizza slice!"
In the heart of the Dream City, you could find a small, cozy community kitchen, perfect for making vegan pizza and cinnamon rolls, and even better for convincing the hungry to eat with compassion and sign up for the Vegan Challenge. On Wednesday afternoon, the activists set up a mass production of delicious snails and enticed potential vegans to talk about how they can change their bad habits. Huge win for the animals!
Animal rights march
Friday was an animal rights march! The activists made a lot of beautiful signs, grabbed their soundboxes and marched through the festival to the sound of Ingen Kommentar's new hit Burn Down Danish Crown, as well as a lot of classics like Protein by TK the Artist and Milk by Asger B. With good humor and lots of battle cries, we spread awareness of the animals and made the carnists in line for pork roast sandwiches think twice and maybe choose a burger from Mikuna or Eden Jaxx instead.
Go Vegan Like Lizzo!
Closing out the Orange Stage on Saturday night was the talented and cool vegan artist Lizzo! Immediately before the concert, activists handed out flyers to Lizzo fans urging them to Go Vegan Like Lizzo and promoting her song, Good as Hell, which she has donated to PETA's "Eat good, Feel good" campaign. The enthusiastic fans welcomed the activists with open arms and engaged in a lively conversation about Lizzo's mega cool lifestyle.
Serve plant food, Roskilde!
At the festival, there was a huge variety of food stalls to choose from. Unfortunately, only a very small portion were vegan. We had Eden Jaxx, Mikuna, The Organic Boho and a vegan nachos stall to choose from, and of course there were a few vegan options in many of the other stalls. Coffee Cow only offered oat milk for coffee. However, we often had to witness how the queues for the vegan food stalls were longer and how most vegan dishes were sold out during the last few days of the festival. It's in high demand, Roskilde, and we suggest you go all vegan next time!
See you next year!
Efter en uge, hvor vi havde bedt mennesker om at lade fiskene være, ZOO om ikke at holde vilde dyr i bur, sultne gæster om at spise mad i stedet for dyr, og fans om at blive veganere ligesom Lizzo, pakkede vi vores telte sammen og spredte os ud over landet for at lave aktivisme alle andre steder i Danmark. Aktivisternes tilstedeværelse på festivallen har uden tvivl sat en masse tanker i gang hos festivalgæsterne, og måske endda skabt nogle flere veganere. Vi glæder os til at se dig når vi skal kæmpe for dyrene til festival igen næste år <3
Want to read more? Read our vegan guide to festivals here .
