Dark Season Blues is an environmentally certified event.
The Longyearbyen Blues Club has received environmental certification for the Dark Season Blues festival in accordance with guidelines from the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Dark Season Blues has been recertified annually as an environmentally certified event since we first received the certification in 2017.
We encourage everyone involved in the festival—partners, audience members, artists, and volunteers—to contribute to our environmental efforts.
Hotels/Accommodations.
Our partners are all committed to minimizing their environmental footprint. If you also want to be environmentally conscious in your choice of accommodation, we recommend our partners: Svalbard Hotel – The Vault, Svalbard Hotel – Polfareren, Funken Lodge, Basecamp Hotel Longyearbyen, and Radisson Blu.
Transportation.
The festival takes place mainly in downtown Longyearbyen, and we recommend that everyone get to the events on foot, by bike, or by kick scooter.
We recommend taking the airport shuttle to and from the airport.
We recommend that everyone use the designated transportation to Gruve3, as the ticket includes bus transportation to and from the concert.
If you need a taxi during the festival, we recommend our partner, Svalbard Buss og Taxi.
Food.
Our partners offer a wide variety of delicious food options. It’s okay to indulge a little extra at the festival, but we encourage everyone to think about reducing food waste. All of our partners offer vegetarian options, and some also offer vegan options. Feel free to look for these if you’d like to do even more for the environment. Our recommended partners are Kroa, Svalbar Pub, Polfareren, Funktionærmessen, Gruvelageret, Stationen, and Restaurant Nansen.
Things to see and do.
The festival in Longyearbyen isn’t all about music. You can also enjoy activities such as boat tours, hiking, dog sledding, or guided bus tours. Our recommended partners with a strong environmental profile are Svalbard Adventures, Hurtigruten Svalbard, and Basecamp Explorer. For guided bus tours in Longyearbyen and the surrounding area, we recommend Svalbard Buss og Taxi.
, an environmentally certified museum, is a natural and cultural history museum dedicated to Svalbard and the Arctic ( ). We encourage everyone to stop by the museum to learn more about Svalbard.
n Svalbard.
Svalbard is a sustainable destination, and before visiting Longyearbyen, you should visit to familiarize yourself with Svalbard’s weather conditions, safety regulations, and general guidelines to ensure that you act responsibly in this fragile Arctic wilderness. Stop by Visit Svalbard, the tourist information office in Longyearbyen ( ), where they can provide information ( ) and helpful advice.
Save electricity.
Turn off the lights and turn down the heat at when you leave your home to go to the festival.
Turn down the brightness on your phone, and you won’t necessarily need to take photos of everything and every situation. This way, you might avoid having to go hunting for power outlets during the festival.
Waste.
Waste must be sorted at the source into the same categories as those used in Longyearbyen.
Water.
Drink tap water. We encourage you to bring your own water bottle and want to avoid the use of single-use bottles as much as possible. DSB water bottles are available for purchase at our festival office. You can refill your bottle at the venues, and there are water stations at every venue. If you don’t have a reusable bottle, glasses are available at the water stations.
Printed materials.
All printed materials for Dark Season Blues are produced by Lundblad AS in Tromsø, which holds the Nordic Ecolabel and is certified under the Eco-Lighthouse program.
Textiles .
Dark Season Blues apparel, such as T-shirts and hoodies ( ), is manufactured by New Wave Mode, which is certified by or a member of OEKO-TEX ( ), BSCI, Textile Exchange, Kemikaliegruppen, and the Clean Shipping Index.
Feedback.
If you notice that there is something we haven’t done that could make the festival even more eco-friendly, please let us know. This is how we at can do an even better job of protecting the environment!
